CATO Institute Finds $180 Billion Benefit to Legalizing Illegal Immigrants

[babylonsister]

I'd love to watch Lou Dobbs read this.

http://washingtonindependent.com/55152/cato-institute-finds-180-billion-benefit-to-legalizing-illegal-immigrants

CATO Institute Finds $180 Billion Benefit to Legalizing Illegal Immigrants
By Daphne Eviatar 8/14/09 3:31 PM


A new study from the libertarian CATO Institute concludes that legalizing the more than eight million undocumented workers in the United States would have significant economic benefits for the country, while simply enhancing border enforcement and applying restrictive immigration laws would actually hurt the U.S. economically.

The new report, written by Professor Peter B. Dixon and Research Fellow Maureen T. Rimmer at the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University in Australia, relies on an economic model used by the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and Homeland Security, as well as International Trade Commission.

Weighing public spending and revenues, U.S. employment rates in various occupations, and price levels for imports and exports, among other things, the authors conclude that “increased enforcement and reduced low-skilled immigration have a significant negative impact on the income of U.S. households.” The minimal savings in public spending on immigrants now “would be more than offset by losses in economic output and job opportunities for more skilled American workers.” A policy that reduces low-skilled immigration to about a third less than projected levels, then, over ten years, “would reduce U.S. household welfare by about 0.5 percent, or $80 billion.”

In contrast, “legalization of low-skilled immigrant workers would yield significant income gains for American workers and households,” the study found. Legalization would eliminate the costs of smuggling illegal immigrants, would allow immigrants to be more productive and openly participate in the economy, and it would “create more openings for Americans in higher skilled occupations.”

The overall positive impact for U.S. households of legalizing these workers over ten years would be “1.27 percent of GDP or $180 billion.”

The findings are consistent with previous studies that show economic benefits from the legalization of illegal workers.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Libertarians FOR immigration?

[babylonsister]

2. Hahahaha!

:shrug:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. I think they're circling around.

Hypocrisy has never bothered them.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. If they were at all consistent libertarians would be for open borders.

[anigbrowl]

7. Well, quite a lot of them are, actually

I don't think the Ron Paul/minutemen types are real libertarians, they just hate government (though inexplicably, Ron Paul keeps running for and enjoying the benefits of his government job...intellectual consistency does not seem to be a requirement).

[anigbrowl]

6. Economic libertarians have always been for immigration

They're not the same people as a gun-obsessed crypto-racist kinda libertarians, and more than voting democrat means you're necessarily a hippie. On this particular issue I happen to strongly agree with them - the US has for more to gain from overhauling its immigration policy and dealing with the illegal alien population than it does by continuing to postpone it. Relistically, this would probably have already happened if it wasn't for 9/11.

[denverbill]

10. I would say a true libertarian would favor open borders.

Free movement of labor, free movement of capital. That's their capitalist utopia.

[Gabi Hayes]

9. they CLAIM to be libertarian. you know who founded the Cato institute?

that's where they get most of their money

the reason they're for this is that it means a free flowing supply of cheapass labor, labor that will depress wages for everybody

who benefits from that?

[OHdem10]

5. Business wants low wage workers. Libertarians happy to oblige.

[anigbrowl]

8. Wages would go up if illegals were legalized

because employers wouldn't be able to threaten them with being reported to or deceive them that they don't enjoy protection for things like being paid on time, worker's comp and so on because of being illegal.