Posted on 02/24/2005 9:18:17 AM PST by 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).
Hey, that equals the total for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security fraud now.
Sorry, I don't buy this.
1. Illegal immigration keeps agricultural costs down.
2. Withough increased immigration we will lose our dominance as a Superpower to China or India in forty years. Currently illegal immigration is all that is keeping our birthrate and population rate up. Without it we'd be going the way of old Europe. Declining in population and power.
3. The cure to illegal immigration is more legal immigration.
Since the authors aren't distiguishing between legal and illegal immigration, it will be interesting to see all of the comments.
My own opinion is that the idea immigrants have detracted from the economic success of this country to be a perfect example of why the "Know-Nothing" party of 150 years ago was the most aptly-named party in the history of the country.
However, if the claim is that the immigrants who came to this country beginning in the 16th Century did very well and the people who lived here at the time did not, I can't argue with that.
Stop the illegal invasion bump...
Rewarding illegals is a real slap to those legal immigrants who go through all the legal hoops.
Hoppy
Or: America is like strawberry icecream and illegals are like dog feces. When you mix the two together the result tends to taste more like the latter than the former.
I should attribute that to somebody but I forget who I stole it from.
A very good analogy!
Thanks for the link.
Agreed.
Sure "America needs more people. People are power" look at Sub-Saharan Africa, it has more than twice the population of the US and its simply bursting with power and wealth.... oh it isnt is it?
That reminds me. It's lunch time.
Re your post 23.
On item 1 (lower agricultural costs). That's not a net benefit. Its cost shifting from the ag sector to others. Lettuce costs less, but the overall cost of living (crime, crowded hospitals, dilution of culture) increases.
On items 2 and 3, you have a point. If we had a rational debate on population and immigration, and reached a consensus on how much was good for us -- added skills, perspective, population, while still being at an absorbable rate that doesn't lead to Balkanization -- then ideally we'd have increased legal immigration. That would let us put some quality constraints on immigrants -- desire to become citizens, not terrorists, not criminals, some skill distribution, etc. This is the way it used to be.
However, if you simply mean illegal immigration should be tolerated because we need the populations, I vehemently disagree. I feel similarly if you mean we should legalize much of the immigration that is currently illegal. I
Wrong.
2. Withough increased immigration we will lose our dominance as a Superpower to China or India in forty years. Currently illegal immigration is all that is keeping our birthrate and population rate up. Without it we'd be going the way of old Europe. Declining in population and power.
3. The cure to illegal immigration is more legal immigration.
More legal immigration is not the cure. It is needed, but it's not the cure. We've increased legal immigration over the years and illegal immigration has still increased.
Stop killing our children, increase brain drain immigration, decrease diversity immigration and increase temporary worker visa's. That's the cure.
My quick scanning of this report uncovered several unjustified leaps in logic. The assumption that increased American technology is a magnet for immigrants is the most egregious. Although his assumption is that increased technology increases wages, and the wages then become a magnet to immigrants, may have an indirect connection, but to build a model on that assumption for further extrapolation is not sound.
Most immigrants to this country don't participate in areas of the economy affected by technology, unless you want to consider power lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners as technology. Those immigrants who are highly educated and are therefore able to participate in the technological areas come as quest workers. Most often, however, they stay home and we outsource the work to them.
Regardless it is all supply and demand and the answer is to take the shackles off our economy which the left has imposed, and then let the market work.
How does allowing immigrant people that take our technology back home with them benefit us. We teach everyone else, give it away ( Slick Willy ), or they steal it from us then use it against to undercut manufacturing costs.
I see it here in East Texas the immigrants up here don't want to work outside in menial labor as much as you don't. They do it long enough to start having kids in our country to get a foothold. We pay to educate their kids so they can start taking other jobs away from us. I for one am darn tired of seeing bi-lingual signs popping up everywhere. Learn my darn language.
You argument is nuts.
Thanks for the link.
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