The Economic Case for Immigration

Scucca · 07-10-08, 04:52 AM

Coyle (2005, The Economic Case for Immigration, Economic Affairs, Vol 25, pp 53-55) wrote:

Immigration into the UK has increased in response to high labour demand in the recent past. This additional supply of labour has helped keep interest rates lower, and growth higher, than they might have been otherwise. The longer-term impact of higher immigration may be an increase in trend productivity growth. Although the evidence on such long-term economic effects is incomplete, there is no reason to believe market principles or fundamental freedoms are any less relevant when it comes to flows of people rather than goods or capital.

Does anyone have any more up-to-date evidence in support or against this positive view?

Awesome! · 07-13-08, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scucca

Coyle (2005, The Economic Case for Immigration, Economic Affairs, Vol 25, pp 53-55) wrote:

Immigration into the UK has increased in response to high labour demand in the recent past. This additional supply of labour has helped keep interest rates lower, and growth higher, than they might have been otherwise. The longer-term impact of higher immigration may be an increase in trend productivity growth. Although the evidence on such long-term economic effects is incomplete, there is no reason to believe market principles or fundamental freedoms are any less relevant when it comes to flows of people rather than goods or capital.

Does anyone have any more up-to-date evidence in support or against this positive view?

I'm against this positive view as it well known that immigration brings down the quality of life, as there is more crime, more social issues, but yet may increase GDP, but it's very difficult to tell if it's a factor in trend growth like the real data from the IT boom. Immigrants may not improve the employment population ratio that much and then again may hurt it.

If anything, try deregulation for trend growth...

Scucca · 07-14-08, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awesome!

I'm against this positive view as it well known that immigration brings down the quality of life, as there is more crime

You seem rather certain about that. Have you got any evidence to support that opinion? You'd have to go for one of two angles: Either, that immigrants have a higher propensity to commit crime than the native born. Or, that immigration increases income inequality and therefore increases crime.

Quote:

more social issues

I don't know what you mean. What social issues are you referring to?

Awesome! · 07-14-08, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scucca

You seem rather certain about that. Have you got any evidence to support that opinion? You'd have to go for one of two angles: Either, that immigrants have a higher propensity to commit crime than the native born. Or, that immigration increases income inequality and therefore increases crime.

I don't know what you mean. What social issues are you referring to?

I think the uneducated have a higher propensity to commit crime. If you look at all immigrants, minorities, whites etc. different groups are in prison more, and the question is why? I don't think it's due to income inequality, but more so due to people not taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to them and then the social problems associated with bad choices: drug use, teen pregnancy, single mothers etc. Large portions of immigrant populations are not educated and therefore more crime.

Scucca · 07-14-08, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awesome!

I think the uneducated have a higher propensity to commit crime. If you look at all immigrants, minorities, whites etc. different groups are in prison more, and the question is why? I don't think it's due to income inequality, but more so due to people not taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to them and then the social problems associated with bad choices: drug use, teen pregnancy, single mothers etc.

You're essentially referring to the notion of the "moral underclass". I see no relevance to immigration.

Quote:

Large portions of immigrant populations are not educated and therefore more crime.

In Britain the average education of immigrants is rather similar to the native born. You got anything to back your statement up?

Frank Talk · 07-14-08, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awesome!

I think the uneducated have a higher propensity to commit crime. If you look at all immigrants, minorities, whites etc. different groups are in prison more, and the question is why? I don't think it's due to income inequality, but more so due to people not taking advantage of the opportunities that are available to them and then the social problems associated with bad choices: drug use, teen pregnancy, single mothers etc. Large portions of immigrant populations are not educated and therefore more crime.

Empirical evidence shows that native-born citizens are 3x more likely to be incarcerated than immigrants despite lower levels of income and education among immigrants.

Press Release

Scucca · 07-15-08, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Talk

Empirical evidence shows that native-born citizens are 3x more likely to be incarcerated than immigrants despite lower levels of income and education among immigrants.

Press Release

Could California be an outlier or is there national evidence too?

Frank Talk · 07-15-08, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scucca

Could California be an outlier or is there national evidence too?

Quote:

n fact, immigrants have the lowest rates of imprisonment for criminal convictions in American society. Both the national and local-level findings presented here turn conventional wisdom on its head and present a challenge to criminological theory as well as to sociological perspectives on "straight-line assimilation."

For every ethnic group without exception, the census data show an increase in rates of criminal incarceration among young men from the foreign-born to the US-born generations, and over time in the United States among the foreign born — exactly the opposite of what is typically assumed both by standard theories and by public opinion on immigration and crime.

Migration Information Source - Debunking the Myth of Immigrant Criminality: Imprisonment Among First- and Second-Generation Young Men

Seems like national data follows the same pattern.