One weirdly striking thing missing from Caplan's book and this review is one of the most common objections people have to mass immigration: loss of their dominant culture.
Given how much anti-immigration rhetoric focuses on precisely this argument, it is bizarre for Caplan not to take it seriously and makes me concerned he is living in an academic bubble so heavily biased towards pro-immigration arguments that he's failed to even acknowledge it as a concern.
Consider that many people in the UK/Europe bemoan that their major cities have entire sections with no native speakers, are full of Arabic/Polish/Chinese signage or whatever, and bear no resemblance to the place they grew up in.
One weirdly striking thing missing from Caplan's book and this review is one of the most common objections people have to mass immigration: loss of their dominant culture.
Given how much anti-immigration rhetoric focuses on precisely this argument, it is bizarre for Caplan not to take it seriously and makes me concerned he is living in an academic bubble so heavily biased towards pro-immigration arguments that he's failed to even acknowledge it as a concern.
Consider that many people in the UK/Europe bemoan that their major cities have entire sections with no native speakers, are full of Arabic/Polish/Chinese signage or whatever, and bear no resemblance to the place they grew up in.
Lots of anti-immigrant... (read more)