Pre-Order Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration By Bryan Caplan

Today’s my birthday, and I have so much to celebrate. Foremost on my mind: My first graphic novel, Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration, is finally available for pre-order for the insanely low price of $13.99! And it would really make my birthday if you pre-ordered right now… for yourself and anyone else in your life who’d appreciate it.

I had a good feeling about this project from the beginning… and then I got my absolute first choice for artist, Zach Weinersmith of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I’ve never had more fun writing a book, and I hope readers can feel the joy. Because this isn’t a conventional political book of anger and enemies. It’s a book about a tremendously underrated economic and moral opportunity that decent people of every description can and should embrace.

Open Borders is a non-fiction graphic novel. If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, picture a comic-book documentary. While the form is light-hearted, the content is thoroughly researched and carefully documented. I strive to steelman the critics. I’ve got chapters on all the leading objections to open borders: economic, fiscal, cultural, and political. The book has a major section on immigration and IQ, and discusses ancestry research in detail. I argue with Milton Friedman on immigration and the welfare state, Socrates about Western civilization, and Mark Krikorian about backlash.

While the book is packed with arguments, you can easily read it cover-to-cover (minus the References) in two fun-filled hours. Indeed, out of all my books, Open Borders delivers the most information per minute of reader time. How is this possible? Because combining words and pictures allows me to communicate far more economically than I can communicate with words alone.

Who’s the target audience? Everyone from curious laymen to researchers specializing in immigration. And due to the format, “laymen” even includes precocious kids as young as seven. I’m not kidding: My youngest kids kept reading it over my shoulder as I was writing it.

False modesty aside, the book is funny. Professional humorist Zach Weinersmith helped me with my jokes, and added many of his own to the script. Insiders will find some extra amusement when they meet Weinersmithified versions of real-world characters like Mike Huemer, Michael Clemens, Alex Nowrasteh, and Fabio Rojas – not to mention my whole family. And despite my personal lack of religiosity, I even managed to work two lively Bible stories into the narrative.

Above all, I consider Open Borders the most persuasive book I’ve ever written. I know what I’m advocating is radical and scary. I know I bear the burden of proof – and I gladly accept it. I know that political discourse has gone from bad to worse over the last decade. My goal, however, is to be part of the solution. I don’t want to demonize, humiliate, or “call out” people who disagree with me about immigration. I want to listen to them, answer their objections to their own satisfaction, and be friends. An impossible dream? Probably. But Open Borders is me doing my best to make that dream a reality.

P.S. Here are two of my favorite pages.