Economic growth is fueled by: (1) population growth, and (2) productivity growth. For several decades we've been past the point where human productivity growth even matters anymore ... productivity growth is now almost entirely driven by automation and advances in technology and communications.
There's no doubt that the house of cards will eventually come crashing down, but that's not going to be driven by immigration (legal or otherwise).
You need to qualify that by describing what you mean by the highest standard of living.
The natural tendency in this type of system is towards Keynesian economics fueled by consumer spending, debt financing and smoke & mirrors. Jobs aren't even necessary to keep the house of cards standing. Even with a very low labor participation rate, our capacity to produce far exceeds our ability to even consume what we produce.
Wages have been declining in real terms since 1969. I would say that our living standard is declining. And we have mortgaged our future stealing from future generations to maintain what we have. The chickens will come home to roost. In fact, they have started coming home now. Our entitlement programs are bankrupting us. Our national debt continues to increase as far as the eye can see and our debt servicing costs will eventually smother us. The only reason we have stayed afloat is because the USD is the world's currency. The Fed can print money to buy our T-bills. They have spent about $4 trillion.
Economic growth is fueled by: (1) population growth, and (2) productivity growth. For several decades we've been past the point where human productivity growth even matters anymore ... productivity growth is now almost entirely driven by automation and advances in technology and communications.
Population growth can sap an economy and a nation trying to keep up with the infrastructure needs. Immigration drives 80% of our population growth and immigrants use the welfare system to a greater extent than the native born. In 1970 one in 21 was foreign born in this country; today it is one in 8, the highest in 90 years; and within a decade it will be one in 7, the highest in our history.
There's no doubt that the house of cards will eventually come crashing down, but that's not going to be driven by immigration (legal or otherwise).
Of course it is. You can't bring in a huge number of immigrants, many of whom are poor and uneducated without affecting the economy, the social fabric of the country, and electoral politics.
Some factoids on the impact of immigrants in the US:
• In 2010, 23 percent of immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) lived in poverty, compared to 13.5 percent of natives and their children. Immigrants and their children accounted for one-fourth of all persons in poverty. The children of immigrants account for one-third of all children in poverty.
• In 2010, 36 percent of immigrant-headed households used at least one major welfare program (primarily food assistance and Medicaid) compared to 23 percent of native households.
• In 2010, 29 percent of immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) lacked health insurance, compared to 13.8 percent of natives and their children.
• New immigrants and their U.S.-born children account for two-thirds of the increase in the uninsured since 2000.
• There are 10.4 million students from immigrant households in public schools, accounting for one in five public school students. Of these students, 78 percent speak a language other than English at home.
• Overall, one in four public school students now speaks a language other than English at home.
• Of adult immigrants (25 to 65), 28 percent have not completed high school, compared to 7 percent of natives.
• The large share of immigrants with relatively little education is one of the primary reasons for their lower socioeconomic status, not their legal status or unwillingness to work.
• At the same time immigration added significantly to the number of less-educated workers, the share of young, less-educated natives holding a job declined significantly. The decline began well before the current economic downturn.
• The poverty rate of adult immigrants who have lived in the United States for 20 years is 50 percent higher than that of adult natives.
The UK just realized the problems associated with mass immigration.
The 85-page report that as a result gross domestic product would grow as a whole but GDP per capita would be only marginally affected by projected population growth forecast for the coming century.
Mr Rowthorn, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Cambridge University, said: “Unrestrained population growth would eventually have a negative impact on the standard of living through its environmental effects such as overcrowding, congestion and loss of amenity.
A great presentation: Canada's broken immigration & refugee system This could just as easily describe what is happening in the US.
Immigration, legal and illegal, has had and will continue to have a major and far-reaching impact across a broad spectrum of existential challenges that confront this nation, e.g., national security, the economy/global competitiveness, jobs, health care, taxes, energy independence, education, entitlement reform, law enforcement, social welfare programs, physical infrastructure, the environment, civil liberties, and a continued sense of national identity/shared sense of endeavor. Immigration is the defining issue of our time with enormous implications for the future of this nation and the preservation of our patrimony. Yet, seldom will you hear immigration mentioned by our political and intellectual elites in connection with solutions to these challenges.
Legal immigration is a controllable variable that can be adjusted in the national interest if we have the political will to do so. And illegal immigration can be stopped and reversed if we as a nation make a resolute commitment to secure our borders and enforce our existing laws. Every time a discussion is held on a major issue, we must ensure that the impact of immigration is part of the dialogue.