Immigrants ‘benefit US by $30bn’
Immigrants ‘benefit US by $30bn’
By Krishna Guha in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: June 20 2007 19:30 | Last updated: June 20 2007 19:30
Native-born American workers benefit from immigration by more than $30bn (€22bn) a year, President George W. Bush’s leading economic team claimed on Wednesday.
The report by the Council of Economic Advisers cites research showing immigrants on average also have a “slightly positive” impact on government finances. But it concedes unskilled immigrants may put downward pressure on the position of unskilled native workers.
It also recognises that unskilled immigrants may impose a very small fiscal cost on the government and that more immigration will not solve the problem of financing Social Security and Medicare.
The report comes as Mr Bush and other supporters of immigration reforms – designed to offer a path to US citizenship for illegal migrants and create a new guest-worker programme while beefing up border security – are struggling to keep bipartisan legislation on the issue alive.
The report says immigration changes the relative supply of factors such as unskilled labour, skilled labour and capital in the economy.
“US natives tend to benefit from immigration precisely because immigrants are not exactly like natives in terms of their productive characteristics and factor endowments,” it argues.
Because natives tend to be disproportionately low skilled or highly skilled, they complement, rather than substitute for, the typical American worker.
The CEA also argues that “sharply reducing immigration would be a poorly targeted and inefficient way to assist low-income Americans”.
In addition the report observes that immigrants tend to be more entrepreneurial than native-born Americans, and have lower crime rates.
It finds the fiscal gains from skilled immigration greatly exceed those from unskilled migration, citing a study that estimates skilled immigrants and their descendants contribute a net $198,000 on average to public finances, while those with only a high school diploma cost a net $13,000.
By Krishna Guha in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: June 20 2007 19:30 | Last updated: June 20 2007 19:30
Native-born American workers benefit from immigration by more than $30bn (€22bn) a year, President George W. Bush’s leading economic team claimed on Wednesday.
The report by the Council of Economic Advisers cites research showing immigrants on average also have a “slightly positive” impact on government finances. But it concedes unskilled immigrants may put downward pressure on the position of unskilled native workers.
It also recognises that unskilled immigrants may impose a very small fiscal cost on the government and that more immigration will not solve the problem of financing Social Security and Medicare.
The report comes as Mr Bush and other supporters of immigration reforms – designed to offer a path to US citizenship for illegal migrants and create a new guest-worker programme while beefing up border security – are struggling to keep bipartisan legislation on the issue alive.
The report says immigration changes the relative supply of factors such as unskilled labour, skilled labour and capital in the economy.
“US natives tend to benefit from immigration precisely because immigrants are not exactly like natives in terms of their productive characteristics and factor endowments,” it argues.
Because natives tend to be disproportionately low skilled or highly skilled, they complement, rather than substitute for, the typical American worker.
The CEA also argues that “sharply reducing immigration would be a poorly targeted and inefficient way to assist low-income Americans”.
In addition the report observes that immigrants tend to be more entrepreneurial than native-born Americans, and have lower crime rates.
It finds the fiscal gains from skilled immigration greatly exceed those from unskilled migration, citing a study that estimates skilled immigrants and their descendants contribute a net $198,000 on average to public finances, while those with only a high school diploma cost a net $13,000.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 6:49 AM
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