A review by owenneil
Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan

3.0

I was actually surprised I didn't like this more. Open Borders is a position I've always believe is a good solution for various problems, it seems simple, ethical and fair. However, given the overall lack of support broadly, it wasn't something I put much serious consideration into. I was expecting or hoping this book could bring me around to calling this the position I believed in. While it does make me more positive on the idea, there seemed to be a thick layer of gloss over many of the positions that left me uneasy about some of the conclusions. It seems like it starts from a (potentially valid) position of the the positive overall economic impact, and every other point is more hastily drawn to support that. Many problems are addressed with the idea that it will not be an issue in a generation or two, but people usually only see a few generations in their lifetime, for example. I feel like as somebody who could have been a slam dunk to convince, it is disappointing it failed to convince me more thoroughly. It does encourage me to learn more, and it certainly doesn't discourage the position, but I'm sad it didn't do more.