Alex Nowrasteh is the Vice President for Economic and Social Policy Studies at the CATO Institute. He joins me to discuss immigration. Specifically, we discuss its fiscal impact and its impact on social trust.
If you are interested in reading his academic treatment of his subject, you can find links here and here.
In response to Alex, I mention this article from Ryan Burge, which demonstrates the changing nature of social trust as it pertains to partisanship, education, and religion.
While I am not convinced that social trust is a useless concept, I am open to the idea that the association between lower social trust and immigration may be coincidental rather than causal. A general crisis of authority surrounding democracy, Christianity, conspiracy, and marital stability may be the driving factor, rather than mass immigration.
Deporting all non-white people would probably not make America into a stable, de-polarized society, since white areas like Portland, Oregon are full of antifa radicals, and West Virginia has plenty of conspiracy theorists.
While I bill these interviews as a brief introduction to authors I find interesting, I was extremely grateful to Alex for dedicating ample time and preparation to the subject. It is not often that someone provides data and evidence, rather than appeals to emotion and insults. It was a rare treat.
You can find Alex on Substack here:
