Immigration Rhetoric vs. Economic Reality
Immigration Rhetoric vs. Economic Reality
posted on: August 28, 2007
http://seekingalpha.com/article/45828-i ... ic-reality
Against a background of chagrined Americans, there is a hypocritically heated debate as to the disposition of the approximately 12,000,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico. This is a rhetorical debate as nothing CAN be done but feign indignant outrage. Any major expulsion or attempted repatriation would be economically disastrous; not to mention politically. The economic equation is not one-sided but the forces to integrate the illegals are very strong. On one hand, our schools, jails and hospitals are being abused and/or burdened and many, if not most, are working for cash. On the other, illegal immigrants have expanded the lowest strata of our labor force, gobbled up our vacant housing (apartment) and swelled our corporate profits.
It is often lamented that immigrants are doing work that American won’t do. Of course this is absurd but that illegals are doing it for less money is, however, quite true. This coefficient of labor has dramatically suppressed wage inflation while increasing productivity. The capitalist trend is for higher corporate profits, not keeping workers happy with high wages. This helps partially explain why inflation has been kept contained with employment so high. This isn't good for individuals vying for higher pay but it is good for business. Rhetorical question 1: What would happen if all that labor left?
The recent surge in housing has been substantially powered by illegal immigrants looking for a place to call home. In what seems like a facilitating "blind eye", there has been an unusual confluence of cheap money and easy lending standards allowing many former apartment dwellers to “move on upâ€
