Permitting immigration to relieve wage pressures is not liberal

[Solly]

Allowing immigration to relieve wage pressures is not a free-market or liberal thing to do. It is akin to the government choosing which labour areas they want additional labour provided for: central state planning of wages and prices.

The free-market, liberal thing to do would be to allow wages to adjust and reach an equilibrium.

Discuss.

[Kuciwalker]

You are letting them reach equilibrium. Global equilibrium.

Good try, though.

[RGBVideo]

Uhh, the immigrants themselves decide both if they want to immigrate at all to the target country and in what occupation they wish to be in.

Saying that goverment tries to manipulate the job market of a whole nation when it allows immigration (inter-nation movement) without limits is like saying that goverment tries to manipulate the job market of invididual cities when it allows intra-nation movement without limits.

QED IMHO

[MikeH]

We should have no barriers to immigration or worker movement anywhere in the world for any reason, that's the liberal free market thing to do.

[Solly]

Originally posted by MikeH
We should have no barriers to immigration or worker movement anywhere in the world for any reason, that's the liberal free market thing to do.

Not possible.

[RGBVideo]

Now if you want to keep wages high within a nation, the solution would be a efficiently enforced minimum wage. This would demand that illegal immigration and thus the large pool of illegally and too cheaply working foreign workers would be eliminated. I personally support the Maddox immigration proposal [1] [2] as a way to solve this problem.

Not possible.

Elaborate?

[joncha]

Why not?

[Solly]

Originally posted by VJ
Now if you want to keep wages high within a nation, the solution would be a efficiently enforced minimum wage. This would demand that illegal immigration and thus the large pool of illegally and too cheaply working foreign workers would be eliminated. I personally support the Maddox immigration proposal [1] [2] as a way to solve this problem.

A minimum wage is hardly free market and liberal!

Elaborate?

Our nations would be targetted even more by terrorists if they could just waltz in and out.

[Az]

Actually, it is the liberal thing to do, that's why I oppose it - It sips the educated people from 3rd world countries, and allows the employers to lower wages in the 1st world - and since 3rd world countries have more cultures with inherent bending to authority, the newer workers will resist this less.

I am ignoring the societal impact in this one.

[Solly]

It sips the educated people from 3rd world countries

Good point. I said something similar about a year ago. Emigration hits the third world hard - what's the point in educating someone who will not repay the investment. Hence underinvestment in education in developing countries.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Park Avenue
Our nations would be targetted even more by terrorists if they could just waltz in and out.

Security like that is a compromise to the principles of individual freedom and free market. That doesn't alter the point of principle.

[St Leo]

One Big Union.

[Japher]

That sounds gay

[Dinner]

It sounds like they're doing a train. A very gay train.

[KrazyHorse]

The Wobblies.

Haven't heard from them in a while...