The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Immigrants to the U.S. Taxpayer by Robert E. Rector and Christine Kim Special Report #14
Each year, families and individuals pay taxes to the government and receive back a wide variety of services and benefits. A fiscal deficit occurs when the benefits and services received by one group exceed the taxes paid. When such a deficit occurs, other groups must pay for the services and benefits of the group in deficit. Each year, government is involved in a large-scale transfer of resources between different social groups.
Fiscal distribution analysis measures the distribution of total government benefits and taxes in society. It provides an assessment of the magnitude of government transfers between groups. This paper provides a fiscal distribution analysis of households headed by immigrants without a high school diploma. It measures the total benefits and services received by this group and the total taxes paid. The difference between benefits received and taxes paid represents the total resources transferred by government on behalf of this group from the rest of society.
The first step in an analysis of the distribution of benefits and taxes is to count accurately the cost of all benefits and services provided by the government. The size and cost of government is far larger than many people imagine. In fiscal year (FY) 2004, the expenditures of the federal government were $2.3 trillion. In the same year, expenditures of state and local governments were $1.45 trillion. The combined value of federal, state, and local expenditures in FY 2004 was $3.75 trillion.[1] (excerpt)......
The Fiscal Cost of Low Skill Immigration
“Can I ask why no one is discussing the economics of creating 12 million NEW minimum wage earners?”
Because that number will be about 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 over the next 5 years.
The reason? Because big-business Republicans want a cheap labor force to hold down wages. Democrats want a huge underclass with which they can wage class-warfare.
Neither will admit it.
I’ve seen it discusses in some threads here.