Modern societies continue to flirt with subtler versions of the same desire for homogeneity that underpinned the Nazi purges, and which research shows is self-defeating. Consider the work of two economists, Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri, who asked what impact a stream of immigrants from across the world might have on American cities. In particular they wanted to look at cities with a large number of foreign-born residents, from a range of countries. One might expect that such melting pots might struggle with social cohesion, gangs, and classrooms overstretched by language barriers.
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