Open Borders: The Case
1. The Status Quo
D. Much of the inequality among people worldwide, in economic opportunity as well as social, political, and religious freedom, as well as physical security, is a function of country of birth
E. Most people enjoy freedom of migration within the borders of the countries they were born in
F. International mobility is tightly regulated by governments
G. About 200 million people live outside their country of birth
H. But far more people wish to migrate, and can’t
I. The right to emigrate enjoys a significant degree of recognition in international law
J. Freedom of international migration has been established between certain sets of countries, mainly the European Union
K. Refugees and stateless persons
L. Cross-border families
M. Economic migrants
N. Illegal migration
O. Deportation
P. Amnesties
Q. Jus solis and jus sanguinis
R. The arbitrariness and irrationality of immigration law
2. The Economic Case for Open Borders
Main theme: double world GDP
A. The principle of concentration
Adam Smith’s great insight about specialization and the division of labor-- why there are cities-- why it’s good to let people sort themselves and concentrate themselves, including via international migration
B. Institutions and prosperity
How property rights, the rule of law, market mechanisms, professionalism, and other institutional features of rich countries help explain their prosperity, and benefit immigrants too
C. Empirical evidence on how migration raises income
D. Estimates of the economic impact of open borders (parts A--C serve to build the intuition for this)
E. The optimality of open borders, I: cross-applying trade theory
F. The optimality of open borders, II: why open borders with migration taxes can be Pareto-optimal
G. Factor prices and the Rybczynski theorem
H. The great land value windfall
I. Why the well-off should prefer open borders to the status quo
J. Cheap labor and the impact of open borders on “low-skilled” natives, prior to compensation
K. The lump of labor fallacy
L. Do low-skilled natives really suffer from immigration? (skeptical empirical evidence)
M. Impact on innovation, I: Spreading ideas and immigration entrepreneurship
N. Impact on innovation, II: Mass production, frugal innovation, and market size
O. Political risk, I: Pressure to redistribute
P. Political risk, II: Does fractionalization degrade institutions? (BK’s survey and my critique of it; the seeming lack of any historical example of immigration degrading institutions)
Q. How open borders would mitigate global inequality, but worsen local inequality
R. “Brain drain” and the perversity of the status quo
S. Remittances
T. Open borders as a means of exporting the intangible aspects of prosperity
U. The end of world poverty?
3. The Ethical and Political Philosophy Case for Open Borders
Main theme: open borders are demanded by every abstract ethical perspective
A. The natural rights case for open borders
B. The libertarian case for open borders (closely related to A)
C. The utilitarian case for open borders
D. The Rawlsian case for open borders
E. The virtue ethics of open borders (how embracing open borders is an act of courage and love, a realization of justice, prudent in the long run, the only option for temperance, etc.)
F. The communitarian case for open borders (basically, migration restrictions split up all sorts of communities; closed borders as a means of achieving communitarian goals are far too crude; here it might be worthwhile to cite Robert Putnam’s evidence)
G. The Christian case for open borders (included here for completeness: much more in Part V)
H. Luck egalitarianism and open borders
I. Open borders and Amartya Sen’s “capabilities” or “development as freedom” approach to political ethics
J. Michael Huemer’s argument for open borders
K. “Citizenism”
L. The border as blindfold
4. The Historical Case for Open Borders
A. How did we get here? Explaining the Passport Age
B. World War I and the emergence of a universal passport regime
C. The MS St. Louis (the ship full of German Jews that couldn’t land anywhere as a canary in the mineshaft)
D. Open borders in Biblical Israel
E. Hospitality in The Odyssey
F. Metics in ancient Greece
G. Hadrian’s Wall and the Great Wall of China
H. Rome and the barbarians
I. The medieval universities
J. Elite mobility in medieval Europe
K. Settlement and internal colonization in medieval Europe
L. Expulsions of Jews
M. Early passports
N. The Grand Tour and travel during the Enlightenment
O. Migration and imperialism
P. How new transportation technologies facilitated migration
Q. The Statue of Liberty era in the United States
R. Racism and nationalism
S. Socialism and insider interests (ex. Samuel Gompers, Cesar Chavez)
T. Zones of lingering freedom of migration: the Western hemisphere, the British Empire
U. The decline of nationalist ideology
V. Migration control as an ancien regime (that is, a regime that lingers for the sake of “stability” and “legitimacy” in a time when the principles which motivated its establishment are no longer accepted)
W. If the printing press gave rise to the nation-state, what does the internet point to?
5. The Christian Case for Open Borders
A. Open borders in the Mosaic law
B. Christians do in effect modify the Mosaic law in many ways, but the ways they do it are not such as to provide a good rationale for rejecting the open borders aspect of it
C. Christianity and the state: is it always wrong to break the law?
D. How C.S. Lewis used a false marriage to thwart British immigration laws
E. Christian universalism
F. “I was a stranger and ye took me in”
G. St. Paul and the rejection of Jewish racial exclusivity
H. Christianity’s exaltation of the poor
I. Amnesty and Christian forgiveness
J. Open borders, and religious freedom
K. The Pilgrims
L. Open borders and Christian evangelism
6. Nationality, Citizenship, and Democracy
A. Nationality as legal category and personal identity
B. Nationality and race
C. Nationality and language
D. Nationality and religion
E. Nationality and education
F. Nationality and history
G. Nationality and ideology
H. Nationality and culture
I. The rights of citizenship
J. Does citizenship involve any duties?
K. Dual citizenship
L. Democracy, the reigning ideology of an era
M. The democratic peace
N. Rule of “the people,” I: Why democracy needs a well-defined electorate
O Rule of “the people,” II: Democracy and national sovereignty
P. Democracy and the who-guard-the-guards problem
Q. The internal contradictions of liberal democracy
R. The public choice critiques of democracy
S. Why does democracy work (sort of)?
T. Nationality, democracy, and the structure of the conversation of mankind
U. Democratic sovereignty vs. democracy as participatory government
V. Residency, citizenship, and democracy
W. How the internet may be altering identities through changing the structure of the conversation of mankind
X. Conclusion: Open borders and nationality
Y. Conclusion: Open borders and citizenship
Z. Conclusion: Open borders and democracy
7. Open Borders and the Environment
A. The spurious notion of “carrying capacity”
B. Growth and the environmental Kuznets curve: the benefits of letting people move to environmentally conscious countries
C. The environmental benefits of urbanization
D. Open borders and global warming
8. The Transition to Open Borders
A. Keyhole solutions
B. Migration taxes
C. DRITI
D. Passport-free charter cities
E. International migration treaties
F. Illegal migration as civil disobedience
G. Globally guaranteeing the right to emigrate
H. Expanding the right to invite
I. Means of imposing international norms
9. The World Under Open Borders
A. Historical precedents, I: the 19th-century golden age
B. Historical precedents, II: the European High Middle Ages
C. Who would move?
D. Class systems under open borders (e.g., rich people hiring servants; returning migrants as an elite in developing countries)
E. The global economy under open borders
F. Freedom without frontiers
G. Whither the welfare state?
H. International Tiebout competition as a check on government
I. The internationalization of education and the intelligentsia
J. Extinction of languages and cultures?
K. Open borders and global civil society
L. Open borders and the fluidity of personal identity