Roundup #82: Staring in wonder at the world
The article discusses recent trends in crime rates and immigration policy in the U.S. It highlights a significant decrease in violent crime across major cities, while also critiquing the effectiveness of immigration raids under Trump's administration. The author argues that these raids have not benefited the working class as intended, and may even have negative effects on native-born workers.
- ▪Violent crime fell sharply across the largest U.S. cities in early 2026, with homicides dropping 17.7%.
- ▪Trump's immigration raids have not helped the working class by increasing wages, contrary to popular belief.
- ▪Studies show that immigration creates a labor demand shock that balances out labor supply, with no significant negative impact on native-born workers.
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Roundup #82: Staring in wonder at the worldCrime; ICE raids; AI hate; Oligarchy; AI math; Small businesses; Neoliberal Claude; Slacker AGI; The TechniumNoah SmithMay 21, 20261012SharePhoto by NASA via Wikimedia CommonsI waited too long to do this roundup, and the amount of interesting stuff built up to truly vast proportions. So let’s get right to it.1. Crime is down!I often get annoyed with people who trumpet falling crime in American cities. Often, these same people are silent in the years when crime rises — for example, 2015-2021. This means that all those cries of “Crime is down!” might only bring us back to where we were before. Also, even when crime falls in America, it still generally leaves us about 5x as violent as Europe.
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