In Celebration of My Visa Renewal

Sorry about the long time between posts, it's been a really busy week or so in the teaching game. I'll try to catch up over the next few days with some posts I've had in the wings.

I just got word that my work visa was approved yesterday, so I'm on the legal side of the immigration debate for another 3 years. With that in mind, it's worth pointing to this excellent op-ed in the LA Times by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Rothschild discussing the benefits of immigration. A key point is that the net gain to the US economy from immigration is $7 billion (and this comes from a study by someone who's an opponent to immigration). I also very much appreciated this perspective:

Some argue that we should employ a more restrictive policy that allows in only immigrants with "needed" skills. But this assumes that the government can read the economic tea leaves. Most bureaucrats in 1980 did not foresee the building or biomedical booms of the 1990s, or the decline of auto manufacturing. We should not trust government to know what kind of laborers we will need 20 years from now. The ready presence of immigrant workers — including the unskilled — makes all businesses easier to start, and thus spurs American creativity.

This piece is a must-read.