Where Do The Killers Really Come From?

Since 2001, the United States has admitted 859,629 refugees into its borders.  Over the same time period, we welcomed over 12 million immigrants.  All told, almost 3,000 people each and every single day move from a foreign country and into the US for one reason or another – either from fleeing an oppressive regime or seeking employment and a better life for themselves and their families.

But this number ignores another, far greater source of entry - one that adds over 11,000 people per day.  What’s more alarming is that these 11,000 people were subjected to no background checks, have not had any vaccines, and have no prior work history or official documentation, and yet for some reason we welcome these people with open arms.  Further, these people do not speak English at all, instead preferring to speak some form of garbled gibberish that not even our top intelligence offices, code breakers, and psychologists have been able to decipher.  Because of this, these people have a difficult time finding employment, typically taking over a decade to find even a minimum wage job.  During this time, they are nothing but a drain on the American taxpayer – a taxpayer who is already being asked to pay far too much.  Efforts to prevent this form of entry have stymied legislators for generations, with a large percentage of the population believing that to do so would be an affront to God or even outright murder.  What group is this?

Newborn children.

Every day, 11,000 newborns enter this country, becoming full citizens who are able to live, learn, love, and labor in this country without fear of being sent away.  If we look at crime statistics, one out of every 22,541 of these newborns will commit murder, meaning that on average, one murderer enters the United States through birth every two days. 

If we contrast that to the rate of terrorist attacks carried out by refugees, we find that since 2001 there have been three refugees convicted of planning terrorist attacks (outside the US) and exactly zero domestic attacks planned by refugees.  In other words, one out of every 286,543 refugees has been convicted of planning a terrorist attack.  This means that on average, one terrorist enters the United States as a refugee every 1,705 days.  In other words, newborn children are 852 times more likely to commit murder during their lives than a refugee is to commit terrorism.

If it’s foolish to be afraid of allowing newborns into the United States because they might commit crimes, it’s even more foolish to be afraid of allowing refugees to enter the country.

A Career in Economics... It's Much More Than You Think!

The American Economic Association has recently put out a fantastic video detailing the careers you can pursue with a degree in economics, which you can check out by here:

They also keep track of data related to earnings and specific career placements.  That information can be found here.

As you can see, economics is so much more than just applied finance, but is instead fundamentally about people.  As you leave an economics class, you should be laughing, smiling, and saying that this is the most fun you've had in any class, period.  We can use it to analyze absolutely absurd and comical things, like how come some sumo wrestlers sometimes lose on purpose, why people for over 250 years put insects and rodents on trial in actual court rooms with lawyers for destruction of property, and how pirates were able to overcome their innate nature of being thieves and scalawags to work together peacefully.  These things are unbelievably fun and incredibly enlightening to read and think about.

But we can also talk about deeply serious topics that ultimately have implications for life and death, as the fate of entire civilizations crucially depends on getting their economic policies right.  How have we done at exporting democracy and freedom to the rest of the world?  Why are some states failed and weak and what can we do to help them?  How have we done at steering international development efforts and quelling oppressive dictators?  The answers to these questions matter not just as mere intellectual curiosities; understanding them is of vital importance to actual, living human beings.

It is this duality of purposes (highly fun and entertaining and deeply serious analysis) that makes economics the greatest subject on the planet.   In one breath an economist can make you laugh by explaining the rationale behind some previously nonsensical historical phenomenon.  In the next, we can provide a sobering analysis of current policy efforts to help the oppressed and least-well-off members of society and the world.

The point of all this is simple: if you want to have a high-paying job that's fun, interesting, and matters, there is no better subject to study than economics.  It provides you with a framework which you can use to analyze the world around you, the analytic tools to figure out emerging trends in consumer data, and the ability to understand the trade-offs necessary when making difficult decisions.  It is, bar none, the single greatest subject and intellectual adventure you can ever embark on.