U.S. Immigrants’ Attitudes Toward Libertarian Values

It is very important to serve up the other side of the story.  Here is a 2013 paper by UCSD psychologist Hal Pashler:

Abstract:

While there has been much discussion of libertarians’ (generally although not universally favorable) attitudes toward liberal immigration policies, the attitudes of immigrants to the United States toward libertarian values have not previously been examined. Using data from the 2010 General Social Survey, we asked how American-born and foreign-born residents differed in attitudes toward a variety of topics upon which self-reported libertarians typically hold strong pro-liberty views (as described by Iyer et al., 2012). The results showed a marked pattern of lower support for pro-liberty views among immigrants as compared to US-born residents. These differences were generally statistically significant and sizable, with a few scattered exceptions. With increasing proportions of the US population being foreign-born, low support for libertarian values by foreign-born residents means that the political prospects of libertarian values in the US are likely to diminish over time.

The pointer is from Billy Willy.  I would point out this is all the more true for the future of the economics profession, given how many recent graduate students come from outside the United States.