George Mason University Professor of Economics Bryan Caplan is one of the leading advocates for open borders — the unrestricted immigration and free movement of people around the world. In the past, he’s penned insightful and incisive books including The Myth of the Rational Voter and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids.
For his debut graphic novel, Open Borders: the Science and Ethics of Immigration, Caplan has teamed up with the renowned creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Zach Weinersmith. In this book, published by First Second, Caplan and Weinersmith critique the big arguments against open borders and examine the potential benefits of adopting this controversial policy.
Recently, the Beat sat down with Caplan and Weinersmith to go over the four main arguments against Open Borders that they establish and criticize in the graphic novel. They look at the effects of immigration on supply and demand in labor markets, the potential explosion in global production that could result from nations agreeing to the free movement of people, and arguments that center on the ways in which immigrants could potentially change national cultures. It’s an insightful commentary that might just change the way in which you see your neighbors and how you relate to the world.
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