We Wanted Workers

We Wanted WorkersExplore the complexities of immigration with George J. Borjas's insightful book, 'We Wanted Workers.' This compelling narrative navigates the multifaceted debate around immigrants and their role in the American economy. With a profound understanding of labor economics, Borjas argues that immigrants bring more than just labor they contribute to a diverse social fabric while facing their unique challenges. Drawing from historical perspectives dating

Explore the complexities of immigration with George J. Borjas's insightful book, 'We Wanted Workers.' This compelling narrative navigates the multifaceted debate around immigrants and their role in the American economy. With a profound understanding of labor economics, Borjas argues that immigrants bring more than just labor – they contribute to a diverse social fabric while facing their unique challenges. Drawing from historical perspectives dating back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Borjas dismantles the oversimplified view of immigration as solely beneficial. He reveals how immigrants compete for jobs, impacting wages for native workers and creating disparities that affect communities. 'We Wanted Workers' encourages readers to understand the economic ramifications of immigration policies, highlighting the winners and losers in this evolving landscape. This brand new edition, published in 2016 and carrying ISBN 9780393249019, invites policymakers, economists, and casual readers alike to reconsider their views on immigration. Ready for quick delivery, with free shipping options available, this book is a must-have for anyone seeking to grasp the true impact of immigration on American life.

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Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780393249019
Year: 2016
Publisher: W W Norton & Company


Description:


We are a nation of immigrants, and we have always been concerned about immigration. As early as 1645, the Massachusetts Bay Colony began to prohibit the entry of "paupers." Today, however, the notion that immigration is universally beneficial has become pervasive. To many modern economists, immigrants are a trove of much-needed workers who can fill predetermined slots along the proverbial assembly line.


But this view of immigration's impact is overly simplified, explains George J. Borjas, a Cuban-American, Harvard labor economist. Immigrants are more than just workers”they're people who have lives outside of the factory gates and who may or may not fit the ideal of the country to which they've come to live and work. Like the rest of us, they're protected by social insurance programs, and the choices they make are affected by their social environments. In We Wanted Workers, Borjas pulls back the curtain of political bluster to show that, in the grand scheme, immigration has not affected the average American all that much. But it has created winners and losers. The losers tend to be nonmigrant workers who compete for the same jobs as immigrants. And somebody's lower wage is somebody else's higher profit, so those who employ immigrants benefit handsomely. In the end, immigration is mainly just another government redistribution program.


"I am an immigrant," writes Borjas, "and yet I do not buy into the notion that immigration is universally beneficial. . . . But I still feel that it is a good thing to give some of the poor and huddled masses, people who face so many hardships, a chance to experience the incredible opportuniti