Americans Lose $68 Billion to Illegals

NewsMax ^ | 02/24/2005 | Donald R. Davis and David E. Weinstein

[Marine Inspector]

Americans Lose $68 Billion to Illegals

Using a new approach, Columbia University economists David Weinstein and Donald Davis estimate the net economic losses from immigration to Americans.

Unlike earlier studies, this new model does not treat the movement of immigrant labor into the country simply as a result of abundant resources and demand for labor, assumptions more appropriate to the 19th century.

Rather, the model takes into account globalization, the technological superiority of the American economy, and the resulting high standard of living.

Among the report’s findings:

In 2002, the net loss to U.S. natives from immigration was $68 billion.

This $68 billion annual loss represents a $14 billion increase just since 1998. As the size of the immigrant population has continued to increase, so has the loss.

The decline in wages is relative to the price of goods and services, so the study takes into account any change in consumer prices brought about by immigration.

The negative effect comes from increases in the supply of labor, and not the legal (or illegal) status of immigrants.

While natives lose from immigration, the findings show that immigrants themselves benefit substantially by coming to America.

Those who remain behind in their home countries also benefit from the migration of their countrymen. Donald R. Davis and David E. Weinstein are both professors of economics at Columbia University, as well as Research Associates at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

[Marine Inspector]

Ping.

[kellynla]

BTTT

[Sterco]

Surprise, surprise!!! Who woulda thunk it. And how do we react? Our representatives think it is best ignored. Put aid stations out in the desert.

[FreedomSurge]

I am thinking of importing 300,000,000 Indian untouchables to the US.

They could do the jobs no one else wants to do like clean by driveway with a toothbrush for 12 cents an hour. I will charge them $1,000 a piece for transit. (Gold jewelry is acceptable in trade)

What I am thinking doing is hiring a fleet of previously mothballed supertankers to transport them here. I think I can load about 10,000 per cargo hold with an acceptable transit loss factor of about 3%.

These people are hard working (unlike native US scum), and love their families.

Anyone who had immigrants for ancestors can't dispute my plan because it would be hypocritical.

[sheana]

Someone needs to put a Money Clock in Times Square so that ALL americans know what this is costing them.
Can't you see it now....tick, tick, tick in $ signs.

[isthisnickcool]

America is a fine bourbon and illegals are water.

Whenever you water down good whiskey it's never the same.

[skeeter]

Socialize the costs, privatize the profits.

Pretty good scam, if you have the conscience & ethics for it.

[blackie]

Hang 'em High!

[Torties]

Wow. 68 billion. We could take out Iran for 68 billion. :p

[jackbenimble]

Yeah, but because of immigration the rich get richer and the Democrats get more Democrats so we need a guest worker program and never mind that the rest of us will be poorer as a result. /sarcasm

[kellynla]

More data from Weinstein & Davis on this study.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/back205.html

[skeeter]

Thanks for the info.

Ya gotta get to this stuff quickly, before certain unnamed arseclowns show up & trash the thread.

[Route101]

Welcome to the door mat called America!...who pays???...you do....

[Mind-numbed Robot]

There you have it. The basics of free enterprise at work. No different from trade with China and other third world countries with low production costs. It is the free market at work.

The trick is to change incentives without distorting the market. Taxes and restrictions do not change incentives in a market friendly way, they distort them.

Were we to continue to get our house in order through tort reform (being done but still needs tweaking), changing the tax system (working on it), eliminating unnecessary and harmful regulations (working on it), reducing the power of labor unions (happening on its own), and bringing our education system back to where it was when we were the world leaders in education.

All of the things listed above which need correcting are products of the left. Their desire is to cripple us as an economy, a society, and as a viable country. They have made great strides. Despite all that, we are still the mightiest country in the world. However, if the left is not stopped and their plans aborted, they will eventually succeed.

The Democrats and their handmaidens in the media are the core of the left. We must concentrate on defeating them. Then the rest will fall into place.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

America is a fine bourbon and illegals are water.

Whenever you water down good whiskey it's never the same.

I like that analogy.