Historically, America's strength grew by attracting top academics and scientists fleeing oppression, leading to major innovations. Now, by attacking universities and international students, the U.S. is causing this flow of elite human capital to reverse. Top researchers are seeking asylum elsewhere, draining the country of future breakthroughs.

The economic impact of immigration depends heavily on skill level. Data shows college-educated, high-skilled immigrants generate lifetime fiscal surpluses. In contrast, low-skilled immigrants often create net drains on the system, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars per person over time due to higher usage of social services.

Raising the minimum wage is a superficial fix for stagnant wages. True wage growth comes from two systemic factors: an education system that prioritizes valuable skill acquisition, and deglobalization, which prevents skilled domestic workers from being easily replaced by cheaper foreign labor.

Large-scale immigration programs, such as those for international students and temporary foreign workers, can be abused by multinational corporations. These companies use the programs to hire workers with fewer rights at artificially low wages, which drives down overall wages and displaces the domestic workforce.

The immense salaries in software and finance may create a 'talent Dutch disease,' pulling the brightest minds from crucial fields like structural engineering. This reallocation of human capital could explain why productivity has stagnated or declined in industries that build the physical world.

Investor Morgan Samet believes the number one threat to future U.S. technological leadership is not foreign competition, but self-inflicted policies that hinder talent attraction. The U.S.'s "most valuable asset" is its status as a "melting pot" for the world's best minds, and ceding that advantage would be a critical failure.

Acemoglu pinpoints the source of liberalism's current crisis: the rise of a powerful and numerous educated elite in the post-industrial economy. This group's ascendancy created a societal hierarchy that is fundamentally at odds with the liberal ideals of broad freedom and flourishing.

The economic cost of zero-migration policies isn't just the loss of immigrant talent, but also the loss of their "spillover effects." Research shows immigrant innovators significantly boost the productivity and output of their native-born colleagues. A third of US innovation, measured by patents, is attributed to immigrants and these crucial collaborative spillovers.

Beyond immediate labor supply issues, restrictive immigration policies, such as for H-1B visas and students, could have pernicious, long-term negative effects on US productivity. By limiting access to high-skilled talent, these policies threaten the country's technological edge and overall trend growth.