I dare y'all to listen. Some takeaways that I can come up with off the top of my head after listening:
- The data overwhelmingly says that immigration does drive down wages (but I would argue that also means we have lower prices)
- immigration encourages more investment in our economy
- The data overwhelmingly says that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than natives
- The net cost to a state for receiving an immigrant in the short run is estimated at an average of $1600. In the long run, it's a net benefit because their children earn and pay taxes, but they often leave the state where they were raised and the state never recoups that money. He suggests the federal government compensate states that $1600 for taking immigrants, because they get their tax revenue regardless of what state that kid ends up in.
- big corporations are not the ones who hire illegals and get rich off exploiting them, like so many believe. The majority are hired by small Mom & Pop operations that struggle to find labor and can't afford big wages.
- a big reason illegal immigration has become such a problem recently is because now it's families instead of individual adults, and the process is way more complicated for families.
- he opined that the constant political talking point that we have an open border (when we don't) has served as advertising to potential illegal immigrants. They see the conversation and think it will be easy, so they try.
What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration - Freakonomics
freakonomics.com