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[Policy Scholars](/experts) 

# Alex Nowrasteh 

Senior Vice President for Policy

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Alex Nowrasteh is the senior vice president for policy. His non-academic writing has appeared in the *Wall Street Journal*, *USA Today*, the *Washington Post*, and most other major publications in the United States. Nowrasteh regularly appears on Fox News, MSNBC, Bloomberg, NPR, and numerous television and radio stations.

His peer‐​reviewed academic articles have appeared in the *World Bank Economic Review*, the *Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization*, *Public Choice*, *Kyklos*, the *Journal of Bioeconomics*, and other publications. He has also contributed numerous book chapters to various edited volumes. Nowrasteh is the coauthor (with Benjamin Powell) of [*Wretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions*](https://www.amazon.com/Wretched-Refuse-Political-Immigration-Institutions/dp/1108702457/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=wretched+refuse&qid=1606232679&sr=8-1) (Cambridge University Press, 2020), which is the first book on how economic institutions in receiving countries adjust to immigration. *Wretched Refuse?* received the [SDAE Prize for the Best Book in Austrian Economics](https://www.sdaeonline.org/best-book) in 2022 from the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics.

Nowrasteh, a native of Southern California, received a BA in economics from George Mason University and an MS in economic history from the London School of Economics.

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##### Featured Book 

### *[The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong](https://www.cato.org/books/most-common-arguments-against-immigration-why-theyre-wrong)*

*The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong* contains the 15 most common arguments against immigration and Cato Institute scholar Alex Nowrasteh’s responses to them.

Immigration has been the most hotly debated public policy issue in the United States since Donald Trump entered the Republican primary in mid-2015. A new Biden Administration has an opportunity to reverse the anti-immigration actions of the Trump Administration and expand legal immigration.

[Read about the Book](https://www.cato.org/books/most-common-arguments-against-immigration-why-theyre-wrong)