After talking about looking at immigrants as people instead of just workers in his first chapter, among other things, Borjas dives into the economics of immigration. There is a popular economic theory stating that if countries had no borders the world would prosper economically. In theory, workers would move from places with lower GDPs to places with higher GDPs. Traditionally poorer countries would have less workers, so workers would get paid more, an the opposite would happen to the traditionally richer areas. After some time, everyone would be getting paid around the same amount, and productivity would go up around the world.
Borjas argues that though this theory sounds great, economists who believe it overlook the facts that immigrants are people, not just workers. He states that it would take around five hundred years for everyone to move around enough for the world as a whole to start making a lot of money. Also, they would bring different cultures to the area, which economists often overlook. Different cultures have different values when it comes to work, and Borjas argues this could result in some overall loss.
3 replies on “We Wanted Workers ERA”
I also saw that Borjas focused on making sure to consider immigrants as humans rather than simply workers which I believe is a good thing. His views on how immigration may harm economic growth make sense but I personally believe that it is better to sacrifice economic growth and overall GDP if there is a possibility of increasing the standard of living for many people. If anything, in regards to his point on different values surrounding work ethic it appears that many immigrants are ready and willing to work hard in order to better themselves within America. Thus the slight differences that would occur from immigrants coming to America I feel should be overlooked in light of the fact that so many peoples lives would improve for the better.
I agree with you Andrew. Borjas stated a few times that he is leaving the emotional and ethical part of the immigration out of his work, and he is just here to present the facts from his research. I think that is one of the marks of a good researcher/sociologist, and it hopefully keeps bias out of this work. Still, I think it could have been enlightening if he had talked about the intricate moral issues that arise with immigration, and I would have for sure thought that some of the downsides to immigration should be overlooked in favor of allowing more people the chance at a better life.
This utopia discussed is one that I truly do not feel could be feasible in today’s world. Cultures are way to different, and since immigrants are real people and not just workers the issue of assimilation would make open boarders very difficult.