"Challenge Accepted"
Neoliberal economist and pundit Noah Smith challenged opponents of dumping thousands of Haitian migrants on small towns throughout America to explain how they would save those towns. America 2100 accepted that challenge in the phenomenal X thread below.
Following that, we'll share some insight into why a smart man like Noah Smith would advocate a destructive immigration policy, and then we'll close with a brief trading note about a "Holy Grail" set-up.
In a recent essay, @Noahpinion claims there's only "one kind of person" who will work at a factory in "a small midwestern town": "An immigrant, without much education, usually from a low-income country."
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
This is the same "jobs Americans won't do" line we've heard for decades. pic.twitter.com/3i6ohJadsS
The same "jobs Americans won't do" line we heard from Smith has served as the justification for flooding Charleroi with foreign workers.
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
That's the argument made by the businesses that are importing these immigrants for cheap labor.
This is from a local outlet just last week: pic.twitter.com/2jXDPiaUJn
It wasn’t just Andy who told us this.
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
Below is our interview with Rick. He worked for one of the staffing agencies bringing immigrants into Charleroi.
He told us they were intentionally hiring immigrant workers *instead* of Americans.
Why? Because immigrants were cheaper. https://t.co/2GjXcwNhkV
Borjas' work shows this wasn't a one-off—it's a pattern.
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
Time and time again, we see that low-skill immigrants don't "revive" small towns. They compete for jobs with locals.
The result? Lower wages and higher unemployment for the most vulnerable Americans in these communities. pic.twitter.com/mYE9nybtj6
Even some of Noah’s readers know this is true.
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
Under Smith's article, one reader explains how his wages *increased* when illegal workers at his plant were deported.
The "ICE raid did what our union couldn't do. It raised wages."
Now, he can work normal hours and pay his bills. pic.twitter.com/iaWk5FA7Hw
Smith also claims migrants aren’t being "dumped" on these small towns—they're moving in for jobs based on "word of mouth."
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
Again, our reporting shows that isn't true.
Companies are actively importing immigrants into Charleroi.
Nonprofits there are literally boasting about it: pic.twitter.com/YOkRvo5PwL
We'll be doing a lot more deep-dive threads and videos like this over the next few months.
— America 2100 (@America_2100) September 24, 2024
Our philosophy is simple: America first. America forever. 🇺🇸
If you want to support our work, you can follow us at: @America_2100 https://t.co/Mi5qBji8rV
Why Someone Smart Might Support An Obviously Stupid Policy
As a PhD economist and widely-read columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, Noah Smith is obviously smart. So why would he support a policy that hurts working Americans, such as importing desperate migrants from Haiti to compete with them for jobs?
Smith has written about how he was bullied by "rednecks" when he grew up in Texas. Occam's razor suggests the victims of Haitian migration in towns like Springfield, Ohio and Charleroi, PA remind him of the boys who bullied him in high school and he wants them to suffer.
The panel on left in the post below is a quote from the great sociologist and novelist Tom Wolfe on what kind of boys grow up to become journalists (which includes opinion columnists, such as Smith).
He just tweeted it out. pic.twitter.com/Iyl7z3x98z
— Covfefe Anon (@CovfefeAnon) September 1, 2021
A "Holy Grail" Set-Up
A Holy Grail technical set-up occurs when these elements come together:
- A strong trend, as indicated by an Average Directional Index (ADX) of 25-30 or more.
- A pull back to the stock's 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA).
- A reversal pattern, such as an inside candle, bouncing off of the 20-day EMA.
Yesterday, we got a Holy Grail set-up on a stock that happened to also be Portfolio Armor's current #1 name.
If the set-up holds, we're going to place an options trade on this stock today, to take advantage of this opportunity.
If you'd like a heads up when we do, feel free to subscribe to our trading Substack/occasional email list below.
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