Circa 1976, Milton Friedman takes on the issue of illegal immigration and comes to the startling conclusion that it is good so long as it remains illegal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eyJIbSgdSE&feature=youtu.be
As the debate has morfed over time, opponents to illegal immigration argue that these immigrants rely more heavily on government resources, particularly education and medical care, than the population as a whole. The argument continues that the costs of illegal immigration dwarf the benefits. If I could bring Milton down from the heavenly hosts, I would ask him to elaborate on these new arguments.
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One of the simple traps that First Years make is making labor a simple, unitary input, a human widget, as it were.
ReplyDeleteWhen we look at the supply curve of labor, we tend to forget that the equilibrium point on the Supply and Demand for Labor is the aggregation of all the marginal preferences to supply labor. There are workers willing to work for low wages. Wages are an important determinant of whether or not to work, but if few people are willing to work at low wages, there must be some other determinant(s) that keeps potential employees from entering the job market.
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