Cosmopolitan Initiative Lecture Series: "Exploring Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration"
Oct. 7, 2021 at 6 p.m.
State Farm Lecture Hall - BAS, MTSU

Event Coverage: Economist Caplan to explore science, ethics of immigration in Oct. 7 guest lecture at MTSU

About the Lecture: American policy-makers have long been locked in a heated battle over whether, how many, and what kind of immigrants to allow to live and work in the country. Those in favor of welcoming more immigrants often cite humanitarian reasons, while those in favor of more restrictive laws argue the need to protect native citizens. In this lecture, Dr. Bryan Caplan, professor of economics at George Mason University and PERI affiliated faculty member at MTSU, discusses how opening all borders could eliminate absolute poverty worldwide and usher in a booming worldwide economy―greatly benefiting humanity. As a New York Times bestselling author, Caplan makes the case for unrestricted immigration easy to follow and hard to deny in Open Borders.

About this Series: The lead sponsor for this lecture series is Dr. Ming Wang. Upcoming guest lectures will be moderated by Dr. Wang and faculties of the MTSU Political Economy Research Institute. As economist Peter J. Boettke writes in his book The Struggle for a Better World, “Economic ideas play a vital role in the struggle to realize a better world. The hope for the twenty-first century, after the bloodshed of the twentieth and the inauspicious beginning of this century in terrorism and militarism, resides in the liberal ideal of a free and prosperous cosmopolitan order. We need an ethic for strangers that transcends national borders, rather than an ethic of geopolitics that rewards allies and aggresses against perceived enemies. The civilizing role of commerce and trade, a role recognized by the classics such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Hume and Smith, must be appreciated once again.”