What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Can Nipsey Hussle’s Death Bring Peace to L.A.’s Gangs?

In the days after rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed, members of rival gangs across Los Angeles came together to mourn his death. In the months since, that mourning has turned into action as gang leaders attempt to broker peace within their warring factions. Now that some have reached a tentative cease-fire, the question now is: Will it last?

Guest: Cindy Chang, a reporter covering L.A. police for the Los Angeles Times.

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Social Science Bites - Jonathan Portes on the Economics of Immigration

“I cannot count the number of people who’ve told me on Twitter, ‘Of course immigrants increase British unemployment! Of course immigrants drive down wages. It’s just the law of supply and demand.’ And it’s an almost infallible rule that people who say that do not understand basic economics and do not understand supply and demand, because immigration adds to both supply and demand.”

So recounts Jonathan Portes, a professor of economics and public policy at the School of Politics & Economics of King's College, London and the former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, in this Social Science Bites podcast.

Portes is explaining to interviewer David Edmonds how the “lump of labor fallacy” -- that there’s only a certain number of jobs to go around when in fact the number of jobs in an economy is not fixed – often plays out in the popular debate on immigration. “The key here,” Portes adds, “is that immigration leads to demand as well as supply.”

The economist has a long and storied career in British economics, having been chief economist at the Department for Work and Pensions before his stint in Cabinet and then director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research from February 2011 until October 2015. His latest achievement is the release of What Do We Know, and What Should We Do About Immigration, one of three books in the debut release of SAGE Publishing’s new ‘What Do We Know’ series of social science explainers. (SAGE is the parent of Social Science Space.)

One of the things that he definitely knows is that for anyone who sees immigration as an unalloyed evil (or boon, for that matter) is certainly mistaken. He likens immigration to trade, which is generally reckoned to be a good thing. “Trade and immigration are in some way very closely analogous and that the results that you get about the overall benefits – with the possible issue of distributional consequences – are very similar.” Those ‘distributional consequences,’ of course, often get the outsize headlines.

“The UK has always been a country of immigration in some ways, going right back to the Norman conquests, if you like” Portes observes. Pre-European Union, surges in immigration often came from  refugees like the Huguenots or from commonwealth countries. “Step change,” he adds, did not accompany immediate entry in the EU, but did in the 1990s. “It coincided with Tony Blair’s government and some of the policy changes that Blair introduced, but it wasn’t driven by that, but by globalization.” The number of arrivals tripled from about 50,000 a year net migration to 150,000 a year. Another jump came in 2004, when workers in the new Eastern European member states in the EU – Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia – flocked to an open UK labor market.

He offers quick correlation to test the direst worries about the continuing influx. He looks at two decades of heavy immigration into the UK, in particular in the last five years, and then at the unemployment figure, at 4 percent the lowest since the current way of measuring joblessness were instituted. “It doesn’t prove anything, because of course there are lots of other things going on. But it does sort of tell you that if immigration really had a big negative effect on the employment of natives, that’s not really consistent with the aggregate data.”

Portes admits that there’s more to immigration that employment and wages; those just where the good data reside. “It’s much harder when you’re looking at more complicated issues – business startups, productivity, innovation. There is some evidence that immigration has had positive impacts ... but its more suggestive and more qualitative.”

So ever the academic, he does caveat. But being the former bureaucrat, he also interpolates. Portes offers Edmonds the example of British higher education. “Instinct tells me that [immigration has] been good. Would we have the world-leading universities that we have in London if we had to solely rely on Brits to fill the jobs? I think it’s almost inconceivable that we would.”

World Book Club - Andrea Levy – Small Island

Acclaimed British writer Andrea Levy was only 62 when she died earlier this year. This month another chance to hear this hugely popular author talking about her multi-prize-winning novel Small Island.

A thought-provoking tale of love, friendship and immigration set in London in 1948, Small Island focuses on the diaspora of Jamaican immigrants, through a group of unforgettable characters, who, escaping economic hardship on their own 'small island,' move to England. Once in the Mother Country, however, for which the men had fought and died for during World War II, their reception is not quite the warm embrace that they had hoped for.

(Image: Andrea Levy. Photo credit: Schiffer-Fuchs/ullstein bild/Getty Images)

The NewsWorthy - Historic North Korea Visit, Sports Betting & Tiny Drones – Monday, July 1st, 2019

The news to know for Monday, July 1st, 2019!

Today, what to know about President Trump's historic, last-minute meeting with North Korea's leader.

Plus: which state is now considered the sports betting capital of the country, the Army's plan for new tiny drones, and the top movie at the weekend box office...

Those stories and more in less than 10 minutes!

Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you. 

Head to www.theNewsWorthy.com to read more about any of the stories mentioned under the section titled 'Episodes' or see sources below...

Today's episode is brought to you by Skillshare. Get two months free at www.Skillshare.com/newsworthy

Become a NewsWorthy Insider! Click here: 

https://www.theNewsWorthy.com/insider

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Historic North Korea Visit: AP, NBC News, CNN, NYT

China Trade Talks: Reuters, CNBC, Fox Business, NYT

Hong Kong Protest: The Guardian, Washington Post

Public Safety Emergency: USA Today

NJ Sports Betting: Sports Illustrated, ESPN

MLB in London: BBC, WSJ

World Cup: ESPN, CBS Sports 

NBA: CBS Sports 

Army’s Tiny Drones: The Verge

Apple’s Diabetes Monitor: CNBC, CNET

Weekend Box Office: Variety

The Daily Signal - #496: The Truth About Money and Politics

Money in politics has gotten a bad rap, especially from the left -- which is odd, because some of the biggest money around in politics is liberal money. The Capital Research Center has traced where the money is in U.S politics, and recently I spoke with their president, Scott Walter. He unpacked the idea of “dark money” and explained who’s paying who, and what kind of impact it actually has. Plus: As we approach Independence Day, national pride is at a new low. What’s up with that? We’ll discuss.We also cover these stories:•The House Ways and Means Committee has filed a lawsuit to get President Trump's tax returns. •The Border Patrol is saying Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez misrepresented the detention facilities at the border.•President Trump is promising planes--and tanks--at this year's 4th of July celebration in Washington, D.C.The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play, or Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at letters@dailysignal.com. Enjoy the show!

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