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… is from this December 23rd, 2020, Facebook post [2] by my emeritus Nobel-laureate colleague Vernon Smith on the Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) and immigration:
Generally, the older members of MPS wanted restrictions, the younger members almost none. Some wanted to auction the right to enter. My view was that we could only gain, on balance, and massively.
DBx: Indeed.
And to further Vernon’s point: While auctioning the right to immigrate to the U.S. makes more sense than relying upon the arbitrary bureaucratic rules currently in use, it nevertheless is foolish to charge people (immigrants to the U.S.) to perform an activity (immigrating to the U.S.) that yields to Americans massive gains.
Today is Vernon’s 94th birthday. Happy Birthday, Vernon!