Posted on 11/16/2015 3:38:35 AM PST by expat_panama
Cruz’s initial argument was that immigrants “drive down the wages for millions of hardworking men and women.†There he revealed an impressive misunderstanding of basic economics. This is in a sense a surprise when we consider his correct assertion that immigration is an economic issue. Yes it is.
A little economic analysis is by extension in order. Wages are not a function of the supply of labor. If they were, Detroit would be full of high-wage workers to reflect the non-desire of American citizens or foreigners to toil in this former symbol of economic vitality. Detroit used to be the recipient of abundant investment, but now it isn’t. Importantly, Detroit’s low-wage present exposes Cruz’s reasoning as wholly confused.
Missed by the Texas senator is that jobs aren’t finite; rather they’re the result of investment. There are quite simply no companies and no jobs without investment first, and since no economic school can refute the latter, what’s plainly true is that where investment is abundant, so are workers in pursuit of the wages on offer.
Silicon Valley is bursting with workers...
[snip]
So if we reduce Cruz’s flawed reasoning to the absurd, how about we abolish the car, computer, ATM and internet? All four would list in any measure of the biggest job destroyers in the history of mankind. All are “robots†of a sort that compete for work done by human beings. All are labor inputs just as immigrant workers are, but as evidenced by living standards that continue to rise in the United States, none have succeeded in driving down wages. Quite the opposite, actually.
[snip]
Human migration is the purest market signal of all, and humans once again go to where the investment is.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
On the economic side they guy's spot on, that the reason foreigners work cheaper than Ameircans is because Americans get sooo much more done than foreigners. Not by working harder --there are a lot of very hard working foreigners. Foreigners are just not as smart and Americans work smarter and get a lot more done.
The point here is that we don't want to get off track on this issue. Illegals need to be deported becuase they're illegal..
“Foreigners are just not as smart and Americans work smarter and get a lot more done.”
This VP Engineering at a silly valley tech firm might have a beef with you there.
Don't get caught in the enemy camp if one doesn't want to be treated as the enemy.
“On the economic side they guy’s spot on, that the reason foreigners work cheaper than Ameircans is because Americans get sooo much more done than foreigners. Not by working harder —there are a lot of very hard working foreigners. Foreigners are just not as smart and Americans work smarter and get a lot more done.”
Absolutely. The reason you don’t see a lot of workers in Detroit is because they have been replaced with machines. One of the primary fights that unions have is machines. They know that labor can be replaced. You’ll see it in fast food as they replaced workers with machines.
“Wages are not a function of the supply of labor”
The artificial supply of H1B visa workers has pushed down the price of degreed tech jobs for decades.
Offshoring (via the internet) has also depressed the economy for this field. The companies make bank but the engineers, not so much.
Hi guys! A beautiful new week opening up the bottom half of the month. So much happening that I didn't know where to begin so everyone please help me think on not only this thread but also at U.S. Producer Prices Stymied by Low Inflation and Paris terror: The potential aftermath for markets.
We got stocks coming out of last Friday's stinking sell off --down over a % in rising volume (distribution counts now at 6 for S&P and 5 NASDAQ) but now futures are either up or down depending on which futures we look at. Fortunately the only report today is Empire Manufacturing --whatever that is.
Metals are sideways at their support levels, down but holding.
Enjoy!
“we want to bring in legals” -— I don’t. We have too many foreigners already. Legal or illegal, they will destroy this country.
Now I have a beef with you.
I am here legally, from England. I married my wonderful American wife nearly eight years ago.
Now I run a huge Engineering department at a nearly billion dollar firm.
You don’t want me here? That’d be crazy talk.
I don’t want the H1B fools here, but to conflate H1B and illegal with legal immigration is daft, IMHO.
The author is crying for a “Safe zone.” ‘Mom! Tell Ted to stop telling the truth! Illegal aliens helps me Mom. Tell him to stop!”
He made that point as well
The article might not be wrong about economics but it is thin on logic. Silicon valley has other factors then labor and wages. Silicon valley is not really bursting with workers because workers cannot afford to live there. They can buy a house for $1m or rent a spot above a garage for $2k/month. Those prices reflect the demand from the higher number of incoming workers, but those cost of living prices also cause employers to offer higher wages.
So you rent at $3500/month. If your wages are >$120K, then it makes sense.
Silly valley is silly valley. Most crap developers can get $140K+.
We make exceptions for limeys, you can stay.
Wow. What a transparent cheap labor troll.
Thanks, Philistine Colonial.
I’m naturalizing to vote for Ted Cruz.
Forbes USED TO BE a good business magazine...
What the heck happened to them?
Is Steve Forbes still involved with them?
F U Forbes!
Robert G. is that you?
The problems started when we stopped permitting the free flow of Europeans (no not the so called Europeans named Muhammad et al) but the kind that were hard working Christians like my grandparents. I also like and respect Hindus and Christian and Jewish middle easterners.
Up here in the Northeast most of the Mexicans who are here are hard working honest people....but those that are illegal need to go back and get in line.
The Muslim problem is that 1%. And 1% of millions is way too many to allow in en masse. All not natural citizen Muslims need to GO....NOW!
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