Wretched Refuse?: The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions

by Alex Nowrasteh, Benjamin Powell

Economic arguments favoring increased immigration restrictions suggest that immigrants undermine the culture, institutions, and productivity of destination countries. But is this actually true? Nowrasteh and Powell systematically analyze cross-country evidence of potential negative effects caused by immigration relating to economic freedom, corruption, culture, and terrorism. They analyze case studies of mass immigration to the United States, Israel, and Jordan. Their evidence does not support the idea that immigration destroys the institutions responsible for prosperity in the modern world. This nonideological volume makes a qualified case for free immigration and the accompanying prosperity.

Genres: Politics, Economics, Nonfiction

ebook

First published December 17, 2020

Reviews

[Sabine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having now finished reading Wretched Refuse?: The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions by Alex Nowrasteh and Benjamin Powell, I can confidently say that it might be one of the most devastating pieces of work debunking anti-immigrant arguments in a very long time. I highly recommend you buy a copy, I'll be using it a lot in in my own immigration research and writing in the future. Every imaginable problem someone might have against economic immigration has an excellent, quantitative response that is thoroughly researched and backed up, while being very generous to the arguments of the 'New Economic Case for Immigration Restrictions' and making sure they properly address all related issues.
The case studies at the end of the book offer an excellent look into the potential of opening up immigration by using Israel and Jordan as examples, and it's rare to see such a good overview of the political situations of both countries in relation to immigration. It left me with so many other potential research questions that now spring up from the evidence presented by the authors. I hope someone goes ahead and writes more on this.
I'd also love to see more qualitative work done on the subject of the benefits of economic immigration in the same way Nowrasteh and Powell tackled the economic/quantitative arguments. I hope this book encourages more work on this.

[Surafel Geleta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dismantles a lot of myths generated by anti-immigration activists and politicians, recommend especially nowadays with the deportation policies of the current Trump admin

[Jet R · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars because honestly this type of work is not my field of expertise 🙂

But very very well articulated economics research on migration. Written very academic and uses and SHOWS their research that is being done. Took some time for me to understand since I’m not in this research field but they really do their best to make it as clear as possible. It is no bullsh*t research, very well done.

Many topics are covered, including migration effecting terrorism or corruption in host countries. Includes many interesting case studies.

Authors are also highly aware of the heated debate around the topic and that some of the studies, especially the case studies, have to be interpreted with caution.

[Matthew Adelstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very convincing defense of immigration from fears that it erodes institutions.