Bryan Caplan’s latest Substack post, “Reflections on the United Arab Emirates,” bet on itOctober 21, 2024 is great. It’s about his experience in the UAE and how it influences his thoughts on open borders. His conclusions are difficult to summarize, but his points #2 and #3 are similar.
Point #2:
Key elements of the UAE’s success: 88% 10% of the UAE population is foreign born. This is the highest rate of any country on Earth. Why is the market share so high? Because UAE is closer 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 from Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone. Yes, the borders are not 100% open because anyone wanting to become a migrant worker must go through a government approval process. But if you want to work hard to make a better life, your chances of getting a work visa are decent, no matter how humble your credentials are.
Point #3:
Abu Dhabi and Dubai are living proof of Michael Clemens. “There are billion dollar bills lying on the street.” It’s the literal truth. Both cities look like Coruscant. star wars. It is a shining city of the future where humanity gathers and creates enormous wealth. And without mass immigration, I could barely make any of these! Foreigners are needed to run the oil industry. Foreigners are needed to build skyscrapers, shopping malls and mansions. And foreigners are needed to run hotels, restaurants and shops.
The content of the article, not the title, is the literal truth. There are actually no $100 billion notes, except in Zimbabwe. But Clemens’ article successfully argued, in my view, that allowing much more immigration would generate trillions of dollars in economic output each year.
that whole piece It’s well worth reading. This is the best Brian Caplan. It’s information-rich, data-filled, analytically sound, and completely free of social desirability bias.
Something new I learned: “Homosexuality is illegal…” But no one has been arrested for homosexuality since 2015.” Think about it. You wouldn’t have been able to say that in Britain in, say, 1960. alan turing.) This would not have been possible in America in 1975, for example. (Think about Stonewall.) So one thing is quite surprising.
Bryan’s post received more comments than my usual SubStack post. Many of them were informed.
The most important thing I learned from the comments missing from Bryan’s post is that the UAE does not have open borders. We have a guest worker program. Brian won’t deny this. It’s just that he didn’t mention the term ‘guest worker’.
Here’s something I’m curious about. One commenter, ‘Bacon Commander’, said: ‘If you lose your job, go home.’ Is that literally true? Wouldn’t you be given two months to find another job?
