The U.S. once banned Chinese immigrants — and it paid an economic price
The Indicator from Planet Money
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The Unintended Fallout of Exclusion
This chapter examines how the Chinese Exclusion Act impacted the labor market in the Western U.S., revealing that its negative effects extended to white U.S.-born workers as well. It highlights the decline in economic vitality of towns as both Chinese immigrants and white workers left, underscoring the complexities of immigration policies and their unintended socio-economic consequences.
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Transcript
