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I think it would be fair to note, that the reason Card is given half the prize is pretty clearly in recognition of Krueger, who would have received it were it not for his suicide.

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David Card in an unworthy recipient of the Noble prize for Economics.

His 1994 New Jersey study is bad and his South Florida study of the Mariel Boat Lift influx of Cuban refugees is even worse. His thesis is that the increased immigration didn't hurt employment or wages, but he ignored the tremendous increase in the illegal drug trade that happened simultaneously, invalidating his analysis.

Funny, he could have simply watched Miami Vice on TV or seen Scarface at the movie theaters to understand what was really going on in Southern Florida at the time.

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I’ve been amazed by how much this result is touted, even by people who should know better. The methodology is a worthy contribution, but the finding, like most empirical work from the 90s, is simply not credible.

I have similar feelings about Claudia Goldin’s orchestra study, which was praised on Luigi Zingales’ podcast last week.

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