America Is More Than Just GDP

NumbersUSA ^ | Jun 4, 2025 | Henry Barbaro

[anthropocene_x]

There are countless pundits who proclaim that America’s population must grow, grow, grow. Otherwise, our economy will crash and there won’t be enough people to support the elderly, join the military, pay taxes, or to keep housing values from falling. Census data show that America’s population growth rate is decreasing, which has prompted many observers to embrace the argument that we must rely on immigration to prevent population from declining.

The evidence suggests that immigration provides few if any economic benefits for the majority of Americans. Take the simplest measure of all — real GDP. George Borjas, a Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School concludes that immigration moderately elevates total GDP, but nearly all of these benefits go to the immigrants themselves. Plus, even though immigration raises aggregate income, a disproportionate amount goes to those who hire immigrants and derive most of their income from investments. The big losers are domestic workers who experience depressed wages, especially those with low incomes. In addition, taxpayers wind up paying more in welfare benefits for immigrants

Years ago, progressives, African American leaders, and organized labor saw this clearly, and loudly demanded corrective measures. Now these same crusaders pretend to see nothing and remain silent.

America’s economic prosperity is important, but so are our lifestyle, culture, liberties, opportunities, family and neighbors, and our overall quality-of-life. Many important aspects of American life cannot be assigned a dollar value. For example, what is the monetary worth of a scenic natural landscape, the call of a songbird? Hardly any environmental problem is not exacerbated by population growth – permanent biodiversity loss, water shortages, polluted air and water, wetlands destruction, more toxic waste, loss of open space and prime farmland from sprawling urbanization, depleted fisheries, loss of wildlife habitat and wilderness.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: economy; immigration; jobs

[anthropocene_x]

Increasing population only really benefits corporations and the top 1%

[ClearCase_guy]

I would really like to see a national conversation about helping people find happy, satisfying lifestyles away from the rat race. With a national population smaller than what we have today — if you look at current dating patterns and fertility, I think a population crash is inevitable.

If we had 250 million Americans, and if many of those people didn’t want to be corporate wage slaves, what would it look like?

But this sort of discussion is “off limits” because we need to grow, grow, grow. We need profits. We need big corporations. We need CEOs with yachts and private jets. We need lots of stuff. Ordinary people living pleasant lives??? Where’s the fun in that????

[ansel12]

Amen, 1950, 1960, 1970 America had all the quality population we needed, and we were a nation united and with a national identity, and the best at most everything, with an incredibly advanced future to look forward to of ever increasing betterment and quality of life.

[maddog55]

Eliminate the liberals, their social BS and LGBTWRSTUVWXYZ freak show and we explode economically and crime would drop 100 fold because we’d enforce laws with a strong police force and military that would be unstoppable.

It’s not the number of people you have it’s the quality of the people.

[fruser1]

Get rid of socialist programs and we’ll be fine.

Limited government was the right idea from the get go.

[ansel12]

“”””I would really like to see a national conversation about helping people find happy, satisfying lifestyles away from the rat race. With a national population smaller than what we have today — if you look at current dating patterns and fertility, I think a population crash is inevitable.
If we had 250 million Americans, and if many of those people didn’t want to be corporate wage slaves, what would it look like?””””

That was a common national discussion in 1970 before America discovered immigration had been unleashed and was dragging us backwards into being bilingualism with press 1 for English and a regression into being a grubby, backwards nation of constant internal conflict, an angry bubbling cesspool of foreign cultures and religions and tribalism and an all powerful government and bottomless social programs over infrastructure and quality.

[Jeff Chandler]

“Oh no, AI is going to reduce the demand for labor!”

“Oh no, the supply of labor is decreasing!”

[Jeff Chandler]

America had all the quality population we needed

Declining native population was baked into the cake with the advent of The Pill.

[ansel12]

To repeat, we had all the quality population we needed in 1970.

Immigration ended us, it did not make America better or life in it better.

[escapefromboston]

No the line must always go up forever to infinity

[napscoordinator]

They are trying. Look at how people are acting about Medicaid which will only decrease the program not the checks except illegals. You’d think they were taking every first born. There is no way social programs are going until the very bitter end of the country.