One Day College: Cracks in the Melting Pot: The Economics of Immigration

One Day College is a full day of immersive, virtual programming to enrich your mind and analyze current events. Learn from Dartmouth professors at the top of their fields about topics critical to the election cycle, from foreign policy to artificial intelligence.

Session Description

Immigration promises to be a divisive – and possibly decisive – issue in the upcoming Presidential election. How immigration affects the American economy and society are nevertheless widely mischaracterized in political discourse. We’ve seen dueling narratives this election cycle: Republicans have claimed the ongoing crisis at the Southern border poses an existential threat, whereas Democrats have sidestepped the issue, focusing instead on the broad set of challenges that threaten the American Dream.

In this class, we move away from anecdotes and stump speeches to describe systematic evidence on the social costs and benefits of immigration to the U.S. from Central and South America. We will discuss what economists have learned about the costs, which tend to be short-term, concentrated on local communities, and most salient in the neighborhoods and schools where immigrants and U.S. natives interact. We will also examine what we’ve learned about the benefits, which tend to be more diffuse and experienced longer-term, and how the costs and benefits are mediated by a legal immigration system that hasn’t been reformed in more than three decades. We hope you leave the class with a better understanding of how economists think about immigration and your own ideas about how to reform U.S. policy.