Good on Paper The Truth About Immigration and Wages
28 snips
Nov 5, 2024 
Rogé Karma, a staff writer at The Atlantic, dives into the economics of immigration and its surprising benefits. He debunks the myth that higher immigration lowers wages, pointing to studies like the Mariel boat lift, which show stability in native wages. The discussion also touches on the roots of anti-immigrant sentiment, linking it more to cultural anxieties than economic ones. Karma emphasizes that immigrants stimulate job growth and contribute positively to local economies, challenging restrictive policies that hinder economic opportunities.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Mariel Boatlift's Economic Insight
- Major immigrant influx like the Mariel boatlift surprisingly had no negative effect on native-born wages.
- Immigrants also increase demand for goods and services, creating jobs and balancing labor supply impacts.
Immigration Lifts Least Skilled Wages
- Wages of the least skilled workers aren't significantly harmed by immigration on average.
- Immigrants allow native workers to specialize and shift to better-paying jobs, increasing overall wages.
Inequality and Immigrant Wage Effects
- Immigration may not harm native-born workers, but it can hurt other immigrants' wages.
- Immigration slightly increases inequality by raising wages of higher-skilled workers more.