Welcome to the Wall Street Week newsletter, bringing you stories of capitalism about things you need to know, but even more things you need to think about. I'm David Westin, and this week we told the stories of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City and of the business of countries selling the right to be a resident. If you're not yet a subscriber, sign up here for this newsletter.

‘Maximally Risky Moment for New York City’

New York City held its Democratic mayoral primary this week, and chose relative newcomer, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, over a crowded field that included former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 in the wake of multiple sexual harassment allegations that he denies. Mamdani stood out, not just for his disciplined, organized campaign, but for his embrace of "Democratic Socialism."

Harvard economist Ed Glaeser has studied US cities over time and says their attraction for "a significant number of relatively poor people" has led to a "built-in kind of progressive thing." At the same time, he warns that if they "veer too much toward this sort of progressive urge, they risk inducing businesses to go somewhere else." He sees this as a "maximally risky moment for New York City to be trying an experiment of hyper taxing the hyper rich."

The New York City mayoral race plays out against the backdrop of growing populism across the US. Kathryn Wylde is the longtime CEO of the Partnership for New York. She sees Mamdani's success as born of voter frustration with economic stresses that the traditional parties have not been able to address.

Selling Visas ‘Sort of Economics 101’

President Trump has proposed what he calls a "Gold Card," which would allow immigrants to enter the country in exchange for a payment of $5 million. It turns out that these sorts of programs are "much more common than most people think," according to Kristin Surak of the London School of Economics. When you add the various visa and citizenship programs tied to investments or cash payments, "you can find them in just about 60 countries" around the world, she said.

Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute thinks this is as it should be: "This is sort of economics 101. If you have scarcity of a good or service, charging a price for a visa is a very good way to allocate to people who really want it." His main problem with Trump's approach is not that he's charging for entrance into the country, but that "$5 million is entirely too high" to get maximum participation.

New Zealand is one of those 60 countries welcoming new immigrants who can afford it. Its price tag is lower than Trump's Gold Card (about $3 million) and it's not a fee you pay but an investment you make. Stuart Nash is a former member of New Zealand Parliament and now a principal in Nash Kelly Global, working to facilitate use of the program for those willing to move to New Zealand.

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