Manhattan Insights

The role of immigration in shaping the nation's economy remains a hotly contested area of debate. Factors such as the real economic benefits of high-skilled versus low-skilled immigrants, the impact of immigration on native employment, and the role of policy in shaping these dynamics stand at the forefront of this national conversation.

While immigration is accepted to have wide-ranging effects on job markets, wages, and the broader economy, assimilation and the promotion of American values are equally important. And to what extent should Americans citizens expect immigrants to assimilate to American culture, habits, and ways of living?

To provide expert insight, guest host Daniel Di Martino (Manhattan Institute graduate fellow) was joined by renowned Harvard Economics Professor George Borjas, a leading authority on the economics of immigration.

George J. Borjas is the Robert W. Scrivner Research Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Related reading:

https://manhattan.institute/article/accelerating-americanization-a-study-of-immigration-assimilation

https://www.city-journal.org/article/america-faces-a-talent-competition-to-the-north

From 2017: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/opinion/the-immigration-debate-we-need.html

As the 2024 election draws near, voters in early primary states will soon decide who will be on the ballot for president in November. Will the race be a rematch between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden? And what impact, if any, will the current president's lagging popularity and the former president's legal troubles have on the contest?

To shed light on the presidential race and the GOP primary in particular, Jesse Arm (MI's director of external affairs) talks with Patrick Ruffini. Patrick is the co-founder of Echelon Insights, a next-generation polling, analytics, and intelligence firm. He began his career as one of the country's first political-digital practitioners. He managed grassroots technology and outreach for President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and previously ran digital strategy for the Republican National Committee. Ruffini is the author of a new book, "Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP."

Check out Patrick Ruffini's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Party-People-Multiracial-Populist-Coalition/dp/1982198621

Follow Patrick Ruffini on X (formerly known as Twitter): https://x.com/PatrickRuffini

RELATED READING:

The latest post on Patrick Ruffini's Substack: https://www.patrickruffini.com/p/how-independent-voters-could-upend

In 2021, New Yorkers elected Eric Adams as the 110th mayor of New York City. Since assuming office, the Adams administration has grappled with a migrant crisis inundating the city's homeless services, staggering budget deficits caused by a decade of mismanagement, and a growing unease among citizens regarding safety on public transit, among other issues.

The Adams mayoral campaign promised to restore the city's safety and economic vitality. So how has New York City fared in the Adams era? In this episode, our guest, Nicole Gelinas, gives her perspective on Mayor Adams's administration and the challenges facing the city. She also discusses new investigations into Adams's campaign fundraising.

Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a columnist at the New York Post. She writes on urban economics and finance. Gelinas is a CFA charterholder and the author of After the Fall: Saving Capitalism from Wall Street—and Washington (2011).

Related reading:

https://nypost.com/2023/11/12/opinion/subway-vigilantes-will-continue-until-nyc-deals-with-rampant-crime

https://nypost.com/2023/11/09/opinion/nyc-is-on-verge-of-fiscal-cliff-because-officials-spend-like-drunken-sailors/

https://www.city-journal.org/article/full-speed-ahead

In Phoenix, Arizona, a massive downtown homeless encampment known as "The Zone" was recently cleared out following legal battles and a court order. For years, the area was filled with hundreds of tents lining the blocks of streets, leading to a rise in crime and serious complaints from local residents and businesses. At its height, The Zone held about 1,000 people.

Earlier this year, a successful state court lawsuit citing a "public nuisance" claim led to a judge ordering the city to permanently clear out the encampment and find beds for the people remaining. Our guest for this episode, Ilan Wurman, was an attorney for the plaintiffs in that case, Brown v. City of Phoenix.

Ilan Wurman is an associate professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, where he teaches administrative law and constitutional law. He talks with guest host Judge Glock (who served as an expert in the court case) about the lawsuit against the city of Phoenix and the problems with America's debate on homelessness.

This conversation was recorded on October 9, before the city's deadline to clear The Zone.

Related reading

https://apnews.com/article/phoenix-homeless-encampment-b0ccbe6bc03ee1592b4e6a087c839417

https://www.city-journal.org/article/taking-a-stand-against-the-zone

https://www.city-journal.org/article/end-of-the-encampments

The role of science, its applications, and ethical implications have been focal points of many public debates in recent years. From the challenges posed by COVID to the complexities of climate change, the question of what qualifies as evidence and the definition of science itself have become partisan issues.

In November 2022, our guest Joe Simonson reports, the Biden administration's Office of Science and Technology issued a rather unscientific memo to over two dozen federal agencies: directing them to apply "indigenous knowledge" to "research, policies, and decision making."

Joe Simonson is a senior investigative reporter for the Washington Free Beacon. He talks with host Charles Fain Lehman about "indigenous knowledge" and its serious (and dangerous) role in federal policymaking.

Related reading

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/this-is-extremely-dangerous-inside-the-biden-administrations-push-to-swap-science-for-indigenous-wisdom/

https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-native-americans-treaties-government-and-politics-1117a5c10f9cb7da1f03247bd7d1ed56

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2022/12/01/white-house-releases-first-of-a-kind-indigenous-knowledge-guidance-for-federal-agencies/

In the period since 2020, consumer prices have increased by 18 percent. While the inflation rate has slowed from its peak, core inflation remains significantly higher than the pre-pandemic average. This prompts the question: what factors are behind this inflation surge, and what can we learn from it in terms of America's economic future?

Stephen Miran is an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and co founder of AmberWave Partners, an asset management firm. He joins Reihan Salam to discuss inflation and the broader U.S. economy. Stephen has written about a wide range of economic policy issues in both academic publications and outlets like the Wall Street Journal and City Journal. He also served as a senior advisor for economic policy at the U. S. Department of the Treasury during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Find Stephen's work at MI and City Journal: https://manhattan.institute/person/stephen-miran

Follow Stephen on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveMiran

Related reading:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/get-ready-for-a-short-lived-economic-boom-da221867

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidenomics-is-unsustainable-uaw-inflation-reduction-subsidies-wages-cbf8263c

https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-inflation-reduction-act-all-for-nothing

On the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hamas launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel that involved the killing of small children, the elderly, and hundreds of other vulnerable women and men. In the U.S., the atrocity has sparked both outrage and a disturbing surge in antisemitism and anti-Zionism, particularly on social media and on college campuses across the country. While countless Americans have spoken up in solidarity with the Israeli people, some activist groups and academics rushed to support Hamas in the wake of its massacre of Israeli civilians, creating a sense of fear and dread. Many worry that violent extremists could target Jewish communities across America.

Yael Bar tur joins host Reihan Salam from Tel Aviv. Yael, an accomplished social media strategist, has deep experience in security issues and terrorism, having served as social media director for the NYPD from 2016 to 2020. Earlier in her career, Yael served in the IDF as a press liaison.

Follow Yael on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/yaelbt

This conversation was recorded on Wednesday, October 11

Related readings and notes:

***U.S. student groups expressing support for Hamas***

Chicago: https://twitter.com/zach_kessel/status/1712282150798582066

Columbia: https://twitter.com/AvivaKlompas/status/1712588263133790366

GWU: https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1711765773142614335

Harvard: https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1711153384953348169

NYU: https://twitter.com/zach_kessel/status/1711807838505312586

NYU Law: https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1711790931299426802

The clash between "woke" progressivism and classical enlightenment ideals has tested the foundational pillars of modern liberalism—free speech, due process, equal treatment, objective truth, and beyond. This battle is most fiercely fought on university campuses across the English-speaking world. At the heart of the trendy concept of "wokeness" lies the ideology of cultural socialism. Rooted in the pursuit of equity for all identity groups and safeguarding against the minutest harms, it poses a significant challenge for defenders of broadly liberal values.

Eric Kaufmann is a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He joins Reihan Salam to talk about our polarized political culture and how we should understand "cultural socialism."

Related reading:

From monoculture to counterculture: why I am leaving Birkbeck for Buckingham (The Critic) https://thecritic.co.uk/from-monoculture-to-counterculture-why-i-am-leaving-birkbeck-for-buckingham/

Why Conservatives Must Not Abandon Universities: A four-point plan (Aporia Magazine) https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/why-conservatives-must-not-abandon

Over the past half decade, panic has spread among politicians in California, as a mysterious startup bought over 50,000 acres in Solano County. In fact, "California Forever" is an effort backed by Silicon Valley investors to develop a new city with tens of thousands of homes in farmland outside San Francisco. The utopian vision for the city promises safe, walkable neighborhoods, vibrant public spaces, and easy access to jobs. But given the state's byzantine rules for development, it's unclear whether the venture can succeed.

To shed light on this ambitious project, we have Chris Elmendorf, a leading expert on the Golden State's intricate land use regulations and a law professor at UC Davis. He joins host Reihan Salam to discuss California's housing challenges.

Related reading:

The Housing Treadmill, City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-housing-treadmill

The Silicon Valley Elite Who Want to Build a City From Scratch, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/business/land-purchases-solano-county.html

For residents of American cities, the stench of cannabis smoke on the streets has noticeably escalated in recent years. More concerning is the growing presence of addicts hooked on lab-produced meth and fentanyl in communities across the country, resulting in more than 100,000 overdose deaths in 2021 and again in 2022. One thing is clear: America is in the thick of a drug crisis.

What is the nature of this crisis, and what exactly can we do about it? Charles Fain Lehman, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins host Reihan Salam to discuss.

Related reading:

Beware America's recreational drug boom, UnHerd https://unherd.com/thepost/beware-americas-recreational-drug-boom/

How I Changed My Mind on Marijuana, Substack https://thecausalfallacy.com/p/how-i-changed-my-mind-about-marijuana