Interesting Read on how Migrants impact economy

[Quixote1818]

Snip:


Several researchers have concluded that even if immigrants have a net cost to society because of the education and health care they receive and the extra law-enforcement costs, the bottom line is the expense isn't that great.

Hanson and Rex said those costs would be a tiny fraction, less than 1 percent of the country's total gross domestic product, or all the production of products and services.

And even if all the illegal immigrants left and the work they did was performed by legal workers, their replacement workers still likely would receive more in services than they would pay into the system.

"Low-wage workers are a net cost to the state regardless of their immigrant status," Rex said. "Thus, much of the cost being blamed on undocumented workers would remain even if the undocumented left Arizona."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2010/07/25/20100725biz-migrants-work-in-large-underground-shadow-economy0725.html#ixzz0ulYNV9sQ




http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2010/07/25/20100725biz-migrants-work-in-large-underground-shadow-economy0725.html

[zbdent]

1. Akron Beacon Journal reported yesterday ...

http://www.ohio.com/news/nation/99188394.html

a thought of mine ...

the article states that a lot of the economy "relies heavily on the construction of houses" ... which, as I recall, was being done (reportedly) by a lot of illegal immigrants in the non-managerial positions ... to keep the costs in line (costs "down" ... or to maximize profits?)

[Edweird]

2. Yep. Wage busting. Another middle class income labor job gone.

I find it mind boggling that Reagan's anti-labor tactic gets so much support here.

[txlibdem]

5. Funny how houses don't cost less then

During the past 15 years house prices have not gone down, prices jumped up through the roof! There goes the theory that businesses will pass along the savings to us, the customers. Just as Nike shoes haven't gotten any cheaper even though they're all made overseas.

Every job that an American loses causes another 2, 3 or 4 jobs to be lost because that worker is not putting all their money back into our economy.

Mexicans living in the United States sent a record $23.1 billion back home in 2006, putting remittances third after oil and maquiladora exports as a foreign-exchange generator for Mexico (Chart 1). Over the last decade or so, inflation-adjusted remittances have grown at an average annual rate of 15.6 percent. Since 2000, the rate has risen to 20.4 percent.

http://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2007/swe0704b.cfm

In 2007, remittances flowing into Mexico reached an all time high of $23.98 billion.

<snip>

They are second only to oil as source of foreign income. Remittances are important because they promote economic growth by allowing more citizens at home to engage in the formal economic sector, while simultaneously encouraging the use of formal financial services and participation in small-scale investment in the national economy.

http://www.coha.org/a-change-of-fortune-remittances-to-mexico-fall/

Why is this important? It's only $23 Billion a year and our economy is so big.

In 2005, the trade deficit with China was $202 Billion. (http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5700.html#2005)
This equates to money lost from our economy, money that cannot be used to pay American workers.

The New York Federal Reserve ... in 2005 ... found that rising trade deficits displaced roughly three million U.S. jobs."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303695604575182070041895454.html?mod=googlewsj

We can use that data to calculate how many jobs were lost due to the money that illegal workers send to Mexico. $202 Billion caused 3 million jobs to be lost so every $67,426 sent outside our country causes the loss of one American job. With $23 Billion going out of our country each year to Mexico that results in 341,114 lost American jobs each year.

[customerserviceguy]

3. The problem with the costs of illegal immigration

is that those costs are shouldered disproportionally by different parts of society. If you live in a nice suburb, you have cheap produce at the supermarket, and your condo association can find a contractor to do landscaping for a reasonable price, as well. If you live in a big city or a small rural town, then your taxes go for increased expenses for emergency rooms, law enforcement and jails, and educational expenses.

The 'burbs get a pretty good deal from illegal immigration, it's not so clear-cut in other places.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. Clearly slanted. GDP is not a reasonable way to compare the cost.

The GDP was about 14.3 Trillion in 2009 (almost anything looks small when compared to that number)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States
^snip^
The economy of the United States is the world's largest. Its nominal GDP was estimated to be $14.3 trillion in 2009



so 1% of that would be $143 Billion. Think of what could be done with nearly $140 Billion a year.




our debt is about $13 Trillion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
^snip^
As of July 5, 2010, the "Total Public Debt Outstanding" was approximately 90% of annual GDP, ($13.182 Trillion)




So, if we simply did not need to spend money on illegal workers for the last 10 years we would be running a surplus (even with Bush policies).





Yes, I know that legal workers would also need more support in services than they would directly contribute to the government. The thing that is not explored here is the fact that they do contribute. Even if they only contributed 50% of what they needed then the numbers still work out. Maybe it would be 20 years without spending money on illegal workers before we would be running a surplus. The Reagan "amnesty" was done in 1986. That was 24 years ago.

Do the math and be honest about it. (I know I used current numbers and projected them backward. The numbers would be smaller in the past but my argument stands)

[SheilaT]

6. Every so often when I ask someone

why a single person in this country should be without health care, they'll respond with something about how illegal immigrants are driving up our health care costs.

Yes, they are, but mainly because they wait until really sick before going to a hospital, as most legal residents/citizens of this country wait before seeking medical care if they don't have coverage. The problem is that without universal health care, without good preventative programs, waiting for health care costs everyone in the long run.

And I suspect that the illegal immigrants are less a drain on our system than all the legal residents and citizens who themselves live without health care coverage.