Bryan Caplan’s latest Substack post “Thoughts on the United Arab Emirates,” bet on itOctober 21, 2024, Awesome. It’s all about his experience in the UAE and how it influences his thoughts on open borders. It’s hard to summarize his conclusions, but his points 2 and 3 are pretty much the same.
Point #2:
Key elements of Emirates’ success: 88% Foreign-born people in the UAE’s population. This is the highest percentage of any country on earth. Why is the share so high? Because UAE is nearby open borders More than any other country on earth. They don’t just welcome petroleum engineers and architects. They welcome drivers, maids, janitors, waiters and office workers. They don’t just welcome Europeans or East Asians. They also welcome South Asians, Pacific Islanders, North Africans, and many sub-Saharan Africans. I spoke to workers in both Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone. Yes, the borders are not 100% open as would-be migrant workers face a government approval process. But if you want to work hard to better your own life, there’s a good chance you can get a work visa no matter how low your qualifications are.
Point #3:
Abu Dhabi and Dubai are living proof of Michael Clemens. “1 trillion dollar bill that fell on the sidewalk” It’s literally true. Both cities are similar to Coruscant star wars. They are truly amazing. It is a bright future city where humanity gathers to create vast wealth. And without mass immigration, This is something that almost couldn’t be built. We need foreigners to help run the oil industry. We need foreigners to build skyscrapers, malls, and mansions. And foreigners are needed to run hotels, restaurants, and stores.
The article is the literal truth, not the title of the article. With the exception of Zimbabwe, there is actually no trillion dollar bill. But Mr. Clemens’ article is successful in my view, arguing that admitting more immigrants would generate trillions of dollars of economic output annually.
of whole Well worth reading. This is truly Brian Caplan’s masterpiece. It’s informed, data-filled, analytically sound, and completely free of social desirability bias.
One new thing I learned: “Homosexuality is illegal…but no one has been arrested for homosexuality since 2015.” Let’s think about it. You couldn’t have said that in England in 1960, for example. (queue Alan Turing.) You couldn’t say this in the United States in 1975, for example. (Remember Stonewall?) So this one fact is quite shocking.
Brian’s post received more comments than a typical Substack post. Many of them are informed.
The main thing I learned from the comments that was missing from Brian’s post is that the UAE does not have open borders. We have a guest worker program. Brian doesn’t deny this. However, he did not mention the term “guest worker.”
There is one thing that concerns me here. One commenter, “Commander Bacon,” said, “If I lose my job, I’ll go home.” Is that literally true? Wouldn’t that give you, say, two months to find another job?
