My previous speculations that the USA desperately needs to increase immigration have been confirmed by major economists as reported in “Trump’s Immigrant Crackdown Left A Critical Shortage Of Workers In U.S. Economy.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has estimated that the economy is short an astonishing 3.5 million workers, and economists estimate half of those workers would typically be migrants allowed into the country, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
“There is no question: We need more immigration,” Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization, told the Post.
“Immigrants aren’t just workers, they are particularly flexible, mobile workers who help address acute labor shortages wherever they emerge,” he added. “And that’s particularly important in this constrained economy we’re facing right now.”
The key is to understand the valuable role immigrants play in national economies. “They … do jobs Americans turn down, such as low-paying, physically demanding work in the hospitality, agriculture, construction and health care industries.” And a shortage of workers leads “to higher prices as employers raise wages to lure workers to jobs.”
Moreover, as Giovanni Peri, director of the Global Migration Center at the University of California, Davis, says, “it could be another four years before the country makes up for current shortfalls through more legal immigration. Even then, he told the Post, it won’t be enough to catch up to the aging American workforce, which will leave millions of more positions unfilled.”
Regarding other concerns about immigration that some people have, I’d refer them to the short essay “The Great American Bigot.” It states that
A paper published in 2020 by the Cato Foundation (co-founded by Charles Koch and not exactly a liberal organization) found that crime rates among illegal immigrants were 782 per 100,000, among legal immigrants 535 per 100,000, and—wait for it—1,422 per 100,000 among native born Americans.
Moreover, it is well-documented that immigrants are 80% more likely to start a business than those born in the U.S., and that the number of jobs created by these immigrant-founded firms is 42% higher than native-born founded firms, relative to each population.
Furthermore, “As We Live Longer, How Should Life Change? There Is a Blueprint” investigates, among other things, the fact that the population in the USA is aging and its birthrate continues to decline. One result of these demographic trends is that social security is now expected to be unable to pay full benefits by 2033, as there are fewer young working people paying the tax and contributing to the system.
In conclusion, the economic self-interest of Americans to increase immigration is overwhelming, and the bigotry that often underlies opposition to immigration is self-defeating.
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For some anecdotal evidence, I’ve recently seen help wanted/now hiring signs on UPS and USPS trucks—very desirable jobs—and at multiple grocery and other retail stores, at restaurants and bars, etc. A grocery store near me offered a starting salary of $21 an hour.
What’s really telling about all this is that opponents of immigration have always cited three arguments against immigration: immigrants are criminals; immigrants consume state resources without paying for them; and immigrants take jobs away from — brace yourself — “hard working Americans”. All three of these arguments have now been obliterated by empirical evidence. This exposes the real reason for opposition to immigration: racism.
Yes, “the bigotry that often underlies opposition to immigration is self-defeating.”
I wish I could employ every one that would place a child on their shoulder and another in their hand, walk hundreds of miles, endure murder, rape, robbery and beatings to find a better place to raise their family. These are heroes on a heroes journey, in my mind. Such folks have initiative and ambition, just the kind of immigrants we need since we barely have birth replacement today.
Kevin
What a contrast they are with so many lazy Americans. You phrased all this all so well and I agree with everything you say.
This is a particularly unconvincing argument for increased immigration. Immigration being good for the economy should not matter one way or the other. There is a humanitarian crises going on.
you’re right. the moral crisis is paramount just thought I might have more influence on skeptics by appealing to their self interest.