The Reality-Based Economics of Immigration, with Jenny Hunt

Jenny Hunt is a Rutgers University professor, the former Chief Economist at the Department of Labor, and a key contributor to the gold-standard, 600-page consensus report on the economic consequences of immigration. Don’t worry, we’re going to summarize it together in 45 breezy minutes!

Economists agree that immigration makes native-born Americans wealthier on average, expands the U.S. economy, and has positive long-term effects on government budgets. The main debate is over the impact of immigration on the wages of Americans without a high school education – and they would be helped far more by a stronger social safety net than by restricting immigration. So what’s the anti-immigrant movement really about…?

==Learn More==

Amanda, Claire, and Doug express their own personal opinions on The Melting Pod. This episode was produced by Michael Palmer (⁠palmer.media⁠). Read more about the topics in this episode:

* The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017)

* E Pluribus Unum: Findings from the Cato Institute 2021 Immigration and Identity National Survey - Cato Institute (2021)

* Macroeconomic Implications of Immigration Flows in 2025 and 2026 - Brookings Institution (January 2026)

* Rising Immigration Has Helped Cool an Overheated Labor Market - Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (November 2024) [take it with a grain of salt!]

* On the Ballot: An Immigration System Most Americans Never Wanted - The Daily / New York Times (October 2024) [take it with an even bigger grain of salt!]

* The Cuba-Born Harvard Economist Behind Trump's Immigration Crackdown - Washington Post (January 2026)

* Immigrants Have Lower Lifetime Incarceration Rates than Native-Born Americans - Cato Institute (September 2025)

* From Chinese to Italians and beyond, maligning a culture via its foods is a longtime American habit - Associated Press (September 2024)