The last question in the interview - two minutes from the end, Bryan said "I have some controversial views on the Israel Palestine conflict that will upset almost everybody" - and then said that he wasn't going to say anything about it.
Caplan has remarked that he thinks that Israel should greatly liberalize immigration, allowing more foreign labor, in general, and even more Palestinians to work in Israel.
However, he's acknowledged that while most immigrant groups are such net positives to their host countries that the negative externalities of their presence would have to be huge to counteract that, on the scale of literal war, Palestinian immigrants have actually done just that, with the Black September which they launched in Jordan, and Lebanese Civil War, to which they were a major contributors.
Still, he thinks that even Palestinians should be allowed to emigrate to Western countries, to a much greater degree than they're currently allowed, and that the problematic behavior that they engaged in the aforementioned cases is far less of a concern in the US. After all, many ethnic or religious groups have engaged in or continue to engage in warfare and conflict abroad, but in the US, such tensions are barely noticeable, let alone on the scale of war.
Lastly, in general, Caplan is a pacifist who thinks that the cost of war is very often greater than the benefits it achieves, or even the benefits it hopes to achieve.
Accordingly, although I've never heard him discussing any of this, he likely would have been skeptical of the initial Zionist project of establishing Israel, given that it could likely have resulted in a war (as it did). Similarly, I'm sure he would have been opposed to all the wars that the Arabs launched against Israel over the decades, including the waves of terrorism launched by the Palestinians, including on October 7 (which he's referenced in the context of an obvious atrocity). And I imagine he'd be unenthusiastic about Israel's subsequent war against Gaza, even if he'd acknowledge that a war may have been necessary.
In general, he thinks that war should be a last resort and that almost any other option, including doing nothing, would likely be better. E.g. while I think he'd recommend that Iran not pursue nuclear weapons, and not attack other countries, he'd support, in principle, arrangements such as other countries paying them to end their nuclear program, were such arrangements likely to be successful, instead of opposing such arrangements on the principle that it's wrong to reward aggressors, and the like.
Ah, thanks. I should have listened to it. I thought it would all be about immigration, on which I know his thoughts very well. Sorry for troubling you, but thanks for your explanation.
Yes, I do. I seem to piss a lot of people off with my views on this subject also, and my views are probably not as well informed as Bryan's, which is my main reason for not talking about them.
Thanks for coming on the show, Bryan. Loved this interview!
Interesting interview. And my curiosity was definitely aroused. What DOES Bryan Caplan think about, er, you know what?
I suspect that he has been wise to keep his mouth shut . . .
No, I don't know what. What are you referring to?
The last question in the interview - two minutes from the end, Bryan said "I have some controversial views on the Israel Palestine conflict that will upset almost everybody" - and then said that he wasn't going to say anything about it.
Caplan has remarked that he thinks that Israel should greatly liberalize immigration, allowing more foreign labor, in general, and even more Palestinians to work in Israel.
However, he's acknowledged that while most immigrant groups are such net positives to their host countries that the negative externalities of their presence would have to be huge to counteract that, on the scale of literal war, Palestinian immigrants have actually done just that, with the Black September which they launched in Jordan, and Lebanese Civil War, to which they were a major contributors.
Still, he thinks that even Palestinians should be allowed to emigrate to Western countries, to a much greater degree than they're currently allowed, and that the problematic behavior that they engaged in the aforementioned cases is far less of a concern in the US. After all, many ethnic or religious groups have engaged in or continue to engage in warfare and conflict abroad, but in the US, such tensions are barely noticeable, let alone on the scale of war.
Lastly, in general, Caplan is a pacifist who thinks that the cost of war is very often greater than the benefits it achieves, or even the benefits it hopes to achieve.
Accordingly, although I've never heard him discussing any of this, he likely would have been skeptical of the initial Zionist project of establishing Israel, given that it could likely have resulted in a war (as it did). Similarly, I'm sure he would have been opposed to all the wars that the Arabs launched against Israel over the decades, including the waves of terrorism launched by the Palestinians, including on October 7 (which he's referenced in the context of an obvious atrocity). And I imagine he'd be unenthusiastic about Israel's subsequent war against Gaza, even if he'd acknowledge that a war may have been necessary.
In general, he thinks that war should be a last resort and that almost any other option, including doing nothing, would likely be better. E.g. while I think he'd recommend that Iran not pursue nuclear weapons, and not attack other countries, he'd support, in principle, arrangements such as other countries paying them to end their nuclear program, were such arrangements likely to be successful, instead of opposing such arrangements on the principle that it's wrong to reward aggressors, and the like.
Thanks
Ah, thanks. I should have listened to it. I thought it would all be about immigration, on which I know his thoughts very well. Sorry for troubling you, but thanks for your explanation.
No trouble at all. I'm sure that you can see why I said that I was very curious, but suspected that he had been wise not to say anything about it.
Yes, I do. I seem to piss a lot of people off with my views on this subject also, and my views are probably not as well informed as Bryan's, which is my main reason for not talking about them.