The Perils of Economic Ignorance

wow thanks for an excellent article.. the authors he mentions at the end are form an economic school of thought known as "austrian economics" the mises insitute has alot of those auhtors texts, and look up bastiat "broken window fallacy".. hazlitts economics in one easy lesson is availabe free online, just google it and you should find it..

 

here is bastiats "petition of the candle makers" where the candlemakers petition lawmakers to outlaw the sun as a way to protect their industry (on special interest groups)
Candlemakers petition

here is wikipedias entry on the broken window falacy
parable of the broken window

and here is the original text from which the above story comes from
that which is seen and that which is not seen

 

If you concerned about the health of the US economy, then how about this: Ask big business or any economist and they will tell you about the necessity for immigration. With an aging workforce immigration is essentail if we are to avoid the pension crisises facing low-immigration countrys like Germany now.

Immigrants are a necessity for the US economy (ask ANY economist worth his salt), the US was built on immigration and the concept that if you work hard then 'the laborer is worthy of his reward' And immigrants work the longest hours, in the worst jobs to provide their familys with hope.


"America is a stronger and better nation because of the hard work and the faith and entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants.... Our country has always benefited from the dreams that others have brought here. By working hard for a better life, immigrants contribute to the life of our nation." President George W. Bush, Jan. 7, 2004

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all the best
Julian
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Virtually no one has learned economics, and it's the bane of our society.

 

I study econmics and politics at Oxford university, BTW

anyhow i agree legal immigration is the right way (so they can pay taxes etc.), the troble is the quotas for legal immigration and the bureacracy of the application process, means businesss don't get the supply they need from legal sources only, hence their willingnesss to employ illegals.

solution = allow larger legal immigration quotas.

They wanna come (supply), business wants them (demand) --> why not allow more of them to come in legally, that way they could pay taxes, be monitored for criminal activity, and be tested for HIV etc.

 

Business wants them because they'll work cheaper and help drive down everyone elses wages which = more profit for business. Increase the supply of cheap labor and you decrease the demand for higher wages.

 

Our government also disreguards the heritage of the American people. Our ancestors left trails of blood in the snow at Valley Forge because they fought for America without shoes in the freezing
cold weather. They had no provisions-only the desire to form a country for their offspring free of religious persecution and tyranny.

Yet this love for God and freedom is what made them prevail against a technologically better army with shoes, warm coats and supplies.

Our Constitution is written in their blood and later became the basis for America's greatest treasure-Americans. For the government to
sell us out and disreguard the sacrifices made to form this country is treason not only against America, but God too.

The government might escape these sins while on Earth. But escaping from God is another story. Clearly, He has also been betrayed and sold-
out by greedy politicians, business leaders
and some in the clergy.

 

That sounds good in textbooks. However....

The quota number set for the amount of legal immigrants is based on a number of factors including what society, economy, resources, etc. can bear.

The premise that "quotas for legal immigration and the bureacracy of the application process, means businesss don't get the supply they need from legal sources only," is a false premise. One can only draw that conclusion if there is no one in the host country that is unemployed. The fact is NOT that there aren't enough Americans / legal immigrants to fulfill the demand for workers, but that these employers who are hiring illegals are doing so in order to evade our minimum wage laws and to pay as low wages as they can pay so as to increase their bottom line. It's called GREED.

 

Those textbooks were most likely written by liberals and made possible by grants from big business and foundations that profit from cheap labor and low wages.

 

Poncho is right when he says:

I am sick of hearing how there are jobs that Americans just won't do. That is just not true, if the price is right we will do about anything. We are not as lazy as we are greedy.

Do you want someone to pick cabbages for 12 hours a day? Most of us probably would not do it for $5.25. But what if it was $15.25? How about $35.25? You would have more agricultural workers than you could stand.

Of course that leads us to the question of how that changes the cost of produce and the economic viability of cabbage farming operations. Eventualy the entire cabbage industry moves offshore and we start buying all of our cabbages from Mexico or China. Before you know it the entire American farming systetm is bankrupt and we can no longer feed ourselves. That is exactly what we have done and are doing with textiles, steel, and automobiles.

A reliable supply of cheap labor does not necessarily mean more profit for big business. In many cases it means American businesses can remain profitable in a global economy.

Don't read that to imply I am in favor of illegal immigration, I am not. What we need is a liberal, legal guest worker system that is regulated and taxed.