The other morning a university economics professor was interviewed on NPR and was asked whether or not immigrates contribute to the U.S. economy. Unsurprisingly, his answer was "Yes." (They neglected to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.)
The theory he espoused was that when unskilled immigrants take over jobs of unskilled Americans, that provides new opportunities for the Americans. His reasoning was that the Americans could then move up to management or sales jobs -- jobs that require fluency in the English language which the immigrants would lack.
That's probably true up to a point, but it also probably looks better on paper than it does in real life. Other observers have noted how difficult it was to get families to relocate out of the rust belt -- where their manufacturing jobs evaporated -- into areas where jobs were slightly more plentiful. Furthermore, the add-ons through chain migration are less likely to contribute much to the economy.
Contrast those workers with the high tech workers on the West Coast who found it too expensive to live there and exhibited much more mobility. But the skills they possessed were in demand, and that gave them more opportunities. But that scenario is the exception to the rule. People don't want to move, and uncertainty of employment at the new place isn't really an incentive.
In any event, an influx of low skilled workers who are ready to work for less than the prevailing wage wouldn't boost the economy that much when the workers who were displaced are not able to find a better job.
All that having been said, there is no doubt that the economy is on the upswing. And during a booming economy there are plenty of jobs to go around. But the current problem for an employer is finding a worker who is qualified to do the work. Transitioning those previously displaced workers to those new jobs would be a challenge.
P.S. One has to wonder if the professor would acknowledge that Donald Trump is largely responsible for the current boom.
Related: One Nation, Two Economies
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1:22 PM 10/25/2018
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