Another Benefit of Haitian (and all) Immigration
February 18th 2010 13:18
To make a drastic understatement, the United States government has a lot of debt. If the economy begins booming again, this debt burden will be relieved to some extent. But aside from counting on the strategy of growing ourselves out of a debt crisis, there is another way to relieve debt (via William Easterly):
Obviously this logic extends to all immigrants. Increasing immigration leads to an increase in population, and ... VOILA! You have more taxpayers. As Easterly mentions, not only does this increase the chances of an overwhelming amount of debt, but it also benefits the immigrants themselves. Who needs more help right now than Haitians?
P.S. I realize that people will object to this by claiming that immigrants will end up adding to government spending, which will more than offset the beneficial fiscal effects. However, I have two replies to this objection:
1. The negative fiscal policy effects of immigration are not conclusive and often lean toward a positive estimate.
2. Even if we assume that immigrants lead to more government spending than revenue, simply change the laws to restrict welfare benefits to immigrants for 5, 10, or 100 years. Many Haitians, and other poor immigrants, will still be thrilled to try their luck at finding a job in America, social welfare or not.
Any other objections?
Follow me on Twitter: @AGoldenDoor
Here’s the short version. If you are worried about having enough tax revenue to pay interest on the government debt, find more taxpayers! And look, here are some people volunteering to become new taxpayers: Haitian immigrants fleeing quakes and poverty! So let’s open the door to our Haitian fiscal rescuers, who will also lift themselves out of poverty as dramatized by a previous post. It’s a TWOFER!
P.S. I realize that people will object to this by claiming that immigrants will end up adding to government spending, which will more than offset the beneficial fiscal effects. However, I have two replies to this objection:
1. The negative fiscal policy effects of immigration are not conclusive and often lean toward a positive estimate.
2. Even if we assume that immigrants lead to more government spending than revenue, simply change the laws to restrict welfare benefits to immigrants for 5, 10, or 100 years. Many Haitians, and other poor immigrants, will still be thrilled to try their luck at finding a job in America, social welfare or not.
Any other objections?
Follow me on Twitter: @AGoldenDoor
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