But Another Economics Study Undercuts Restrictionists Labor Market Arguments

Stuart Anderson for Forbes reports on a new study concluding that temporary work visas allow firms to expand and hire more U.S. workers. “Economists find it is the latest in a series of recent studies that demonstrate the key premise of immigration restriction—that there is only a fixed number of jobs in the economy—relies on ignorance of economics.” (bold added).  Anderson continues: “For more than 100 years, opponents of immigration have promoted the `lump of labor fallacy,’ a discredited notion that there is a fixed quantity of labor needed in an economy.” Consistent with past studies, a new  studyby two economists “again shows it is wrong to assume new entrants to the labor market mean fewer jobs for U.S. workers.” (bold added).

Anderson reviews some of the other studies that have found that the economic claims that immigrants “take” American jobs are not supported by the evidence:  Among the studies he mentions is a book concluding today’s immigrants assimilate as well as past immigrants, and their children are better off economically than the children of the native-born. In Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success, previously featured on this blog, the authors note that the data shows that the “children of immigrants from nearly every country in the world, including from poorer countries . . . , are more upwardly mobile than the children of U.S.-born residents who were raised in families with a similar income level.”

KJ