Northeast Corridor

ISLAMIST VIOLENCE AND THE ECONOMY

Over at the Becker-Posner blog, they have a thread examining the issues of the economy, immigration, and Islamist violence. They compare the US economy to Europe’s and both come to the conclusion that the greater economic opportunities and better assimilation in the US have worked to lesson these tensions as compared with Europe. Here are Gary Becker's thoughts on the issue:

There is an ongoing debate among economists over whether social mobility is greater in the United States or Europe. The general evidence on this does not offer a definitive answer, but there is little doubt that most immigrants believe opportunities for themselves and their children are greater in the United States. This is why America is the first choice of most immigrants whenever they can choose where to go, and it also explains the different attitudes of immigrants in Europe and America. As Posner emphasizes, most immigrants, non-Muslim as well as Muslim, feel far more accepted in the United States than in Europe, are less segregated here in both their living arrangements and employment, and appear to advance more easily toward higher level jobs. As a result, they are less promising material for radical Islam, although clearly radicals are operating and planning in the United States as well as in Europe.

I think they both ignore the history that Islam has with the West, and the fact that the Cold War and the World Wars helped suppress these tensions.

posted by Long Island Bob @ 1:24 PM