WEBVTT

00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.277
So I want to circle back to another
controversial topic which you know over

00:00:03.360 --> 00:00:05.677
the last several decades you
mentioned this we've kind of pursued

00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:08.157
de-industrialization financialization.

00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:12.637
Uh we've also pursued mass immigration
and you know that the view from the tech

00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.677
world has almost always been we need
more of the smartest people to come here

00:00:15.760 --> 00:00:18.877
and build with us. A lot of my smartest
friends are immigrants and they've built

00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:22.637
great things. Uh but at the same time
some of this mass immigration has really

00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:25.517
affected the working class in certain
ways that's that's maybe not great. I

00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.637
know your views have evolved on this topic
like what is the right immigration

00:00:28.720 --> 00:00:31.837
policy and how does it tie into what what
you're seeing for the next few decades.

00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.717
>> Yeah. So separate it you know
the classic split between so-called highkl

00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:37.917
and lowkilled immigration. Um so on
the low skill immigration side it's it's

00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:42.077
it's it's the it's the it's actually the
the a lot of the AI doomers kind of have

00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:44.397
this split personality where they're
like AI is going to eliminate all the

00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:47.997
jobs and we need to import another 100
million people from the third world as

00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:51.677
fast as possible or we won't have
any you So, so, so there's a bit of a

00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:54.637
there's a bit of a a weird kind
of disconnect I think in the logic and the

00:00:54.720 --> 00:00:58.157
logic on that. Um, you know, look,
the country went through this before, you

00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:01.837
know, as I said earlier,
the there was very high immigration

00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:06.397
between like 1870, 1920, you know,
they closed the gates in 1925. Um, and you

00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.677
know, look, 1925 to 1977, you could
argue it would have grown faster with

00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:13.437
higher immigration, but they grew a lot
faster than we've grown, right? And so I

00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:17.837
like I do think there is this like if if
you have advanced if you have AI, if you

00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:20.797
have advanced high productivity growth,
if you have lots of robots running

00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:23.437
around, you know, I do think there
is a question of exactly how much low

00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:26.557
lowkilled labor you need in the country,
which which which bears on a lot of the

00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.637
the immigration debates. Um the high
skilled immigration debate is is the one

00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:33.597
that's coming. Um and it's not really
top of mind right now, but it's the one

00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.877
that's coming. And the reason it's
coming is because I mean look, we you

00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:39.997
know, we need we need talent of course
to build all the AI, build all the

00:01:40.080 --> 00:01:42.717
robots, and do all these things. and and
you see this in, you know, the debates

00:01:42.800 --> 00:01:45.357
around the universities, you know,
with the move that the administration is

00:01:45.440 --> 00:01:48.477
doing on on foreign students and so forth.
And there's this kind of very

00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.117
one-sided argument that's happening
on that right now, which is you kind of

00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.917
need unlimited, you know, you need
limited high skill immigration from the

00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.997
rest of the world or you're not going
to have like the smart people building

00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:59.837
stuff here. U and I would say, you know,
look, like Joe, you know, our portfolio

00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:01.517
at our firm is like the United Nations.

00:02:01.600 --> 00:02:05.437
It's founders from 100 countries.
You know, I I benefited enormously by

00:02:05.520 --> 00:02:09.597
working in a place characterized by very
high high skilled immigration. Um the

00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.957
the thing that's really coming to roots
though is sort of this this fundamental

00:02:13.040 --> 00:02:16.077
issue which kind of nobody wants to talk
about but I've started to talk about

00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:17.997
which is it's it's the intersection of

00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:23.277
DEI and and immigration that has really
I think warped I think our perceptions

00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:27.357
on high immigration over the last 50
years um which basic and you and you see

00:02:27.440 --> 00:02:30.397
this by the way in like this you just
you look at like the foreign enrollment

00:02:30.480 --> 00:02:34.317
rates of the top universities which went
from you know like two or three or 4% 50

00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:38.077
years ago to whatever 27 or 30 or 50
>> Columbia is over half right 70% or

00:02:38.160 --> 00:02:40.397
whatever. ever it is. And so there's
been this massive transformation in who

00:02:40.480 --> 00:02:43.517
gets educated. Um, and then there's been
this massive transformation of who gets

00:02:43.600 --> 00:02:46.957
admitted through de through affirmative
action and then you know as we now know

00:02:47.040 --> 00:02:50.877
at DEI um and and again this goes
straight to the political divide in the

00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.237
country which is if you're a family you
know if you if you're a family if you're

00:02:54.320 --> 00:02:58.477
parents of a kid where I grew up um and
you've got a smart kid um and you think

00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.197
you're going to get them into you know
a top university in this country like you

00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:05.997
are fooling yourself like there is no
chance right um because they've got

00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:08.797
their well [laughter] the top
universities basically the top

00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:11.117
universities have basically admissions
program that looks like this it's like

00:03:11.200 --> 00:03:16.317
DEI for white people um which is the
donors and all the fake sports right um

00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.797
and so >> a lot of fake sports >>
like I have a friend who got into Yale

00:03:18.880 --> 00:03:22.717
to play varsity croquet um [laughter]
which let me just say is not a sport

00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.437
that we played a lot in rural Wisconsin
and then you've got you know DEI

00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:28.317
generally for for the other groups
and then you've got this you got this

00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:32.157
immigration influx um and as a
consequence of that like it is nearly

00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:35.757
impossible uh for somebody coming from
like a Midwestern or rural background or

00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:39.437
southern background um to get into
the US by the way this doesn't just affect

00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.397
white people this also So obviously
now we now see how it's affecting Jewish

00:03:42.480 --> 00:03:46.477
people. Um it it but it actually also
affects African-Americans uh in a very

00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.757
interesting way which is actually uh
both the universities and the corporate

00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:51.437
employers are literally this is true.

00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.317
They're literally they literally import
Africans so that they don't have to hire

00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.477
African-Americans um because they they
they still count as black. Um there was

00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.557
a great story the thing that woke me
up to this there was a story in the New

00:04:00.640 --> 00:04:03.837
York Times 20 years ago about Harvard's
this is a Harvard admits you know black

00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:06.237
students but which ones back when
the New York Times could talk about these

00:04:06.320 --> 00:04:09.437
things honestly. Um, and it quoted
actually Henry Lewis Gates and Lonnie

00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.557
Guineer at the time uh at Harvard
Law School basically observing that

00:04:12.640 --> 00:04:15.517
African-Americans were not benefiting
from affir affirmative action because

00:04:15.600 --> 00:04:19.357
Harvard had figured out that they could
import Nigerians. Um, right. And again,

00:04:19.440 --> 00:04:21.677
it's just like great, the Nigerians are
great, they're very smart, they're very

00:04:21.760 --> 00:04:24.157
productive, it's fantastic, you know,
all other things being equal, you'd like

00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.037
to have as many of them in your country,
but like is that really why we're doing,

00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:31.597
you know, the set aside programs? Um and
so like there is this really fundamental

00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.877
question which is like what level
of untapped talent exists in this country

00:04:34.960 --> 00:04:37.837
that a combination of DEI
and immigration have basically cut out of

00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:42.957
the loop for the last 50 years. Um and how
long can we have this you know story

00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.917
to everybody in the Midwest and the
South that says you know sorry you're

00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.637
you know because of historical
oppression your kids are so

00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:51.757
>> this this is the angry populism people
are worried about that's affecting our

00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:53.277
politics. >> Yeah.
This is what I've really come to

00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.837
this is what I've really come
to appreciate from growing up in the one

00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:58.477
place and now being in the other place,
which is if you if you're if you're in

00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:00.717
the if you're in the center of the
country, you're just like, "Wow, these

00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.837
people really hate me. They really hate
my kids." Like they're really out to get

00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.637
me. Um and and like that that that's

00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:08.877
just such a toxic that's just such a

00:05:08.960 --> 00:05:15.000
toxic dynamic. Like that that's a very
very bad thing for that to continue.