Immigrants during two global centuries : rising quantity and falling quality -- A framework -- Looking at local labor markets -- Immigration shocks and labor market absorption : two modern examples -- Immigrants, wages, and inequality : the global centuries compared -- Policy and the demise of...

Today's labor-scarce economies have open trade and closed immigration policies, while a century ago they had just the opposite, open immigration and closed trade policies. Why the inverse policy correlation, and why has it persisted for almost two centuries? This paper seeks answers to this dual...