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785 sats \ 3 replies \ @Voldemort 9 Feb \ on: Does the Economy Need Migrants? and related discussion econ
The argument in the St. Onge link is so bad it is barely worth discussing, but I am a sucker for this type of stuff.
First, does it seem plausible that "semi-literate manual laborers" will come with such a high demand for dentistry that it would lead to an extreme shortage of dentists?
Second, his example about annexing France is absurd. The type of migrants he is discussing typically go somewhere because they can't find work in their current country. If France had high poverty and unemployment rates, we probably would get a bunch of new workers.
Third, he does not mention anything about technology. There is evidence that when firms do not have access to low-cost labor, they switch to capital. In other words, if I don't have "cheap fruit pickers" an investment in machines to pick fruit might become advantageous. As such, immigration can have a positive effect on long term wages.
I could go on and on, but there is a lot of research that has empirical evidence for this stuff. GJ Borjas is a very well known economist who studies this: here are links to his research: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Patm-BEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
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The argument in the St. Onge link is so bad it is barely worth discussing,
Yeah, I often find his stuff similarly discombobulating, but this one seemed worse than usual. Perhaps audience capture at work in earnest.
First, does it seem plausible that "semi-literate manual laborers" will come with such a high demand for dentistry that it would lead to an extreme shortage of dentists?
Give em a dollar, they spend it on getting braces. Typical.
I could go on and on, but there is a lot of research that has empirical evidence for this stuff.
Thanks for the link, that's what I was hoping for :)
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Have you seen the hospital situation in Denver?
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