Alberto Alesina on Immigration and Redistribution

Alberto Alesina talks with host Russ Roberts about how people in the US and 5 European countries perceive legal immigrants. He and his coauthors find that individuals overestimate the number of immigrants while underestimating their standard of living. They also find that support for welfare payments to the poor is related to the perception people have of the size of the immigrant population and their economic status. The conversation concludes with a discussion of why people's perceptions are so inaccurate and the implications of perception for public policy.