What the Swiss Vote Really Shows
The Swiss just passed a referendum to restrict immigration from the EU. Tyler thinks this shows that open borders is a hopeless cause. When immigration gets too high, public opinion naturally turns against immigration.
Normal
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In my view immigration has gone well for
Switzerland, both economically and culturally, and I am sorry to see this
happen, even apart from the fact that it may cause a crisis in their relations
with the European Union. That said, you can take 27% as a kind of
benchmark for the limits of immigration in most or all of today’s wealthy
countries. I believe that as you approach a number in that range, you get
a backlash.
But there’s a major problem with Tyler’s story: Swiss anti-immigration voting was highest in the places with the least immigrants! This is no fluke. In the U.S., anti-immigration sentiment is highest in the states with the least immigration – even if you assume that 100% of immigrants are pro-immigration.
The natural inference to draw, then, is the opposite of Tyler’s: The main hurdle to further immigration is insufficient immigration. If countries could just get over the hump of status quo bias, anti-immigration attitudes would become as socially unacceptable as domestic racism. Instead of coddling nativism with gradualism, we can, should, and must peacefully destroy nativism with abolitionism.
The post appeared first on Econlib.