There is almost no issue more controversial than immigration. The constellation of questions surrounding this subject is so complex as almost to defy analysis.
To make a beginning we can ask, what is the link between immigration and employment? The answer, unsurprisingly, is: It depends.
Alarmists argue that all immigration simply expands the supply of labor and displaces American workers, while reducing wages at the same time. This fear is based on what some economists call the "lump of labor" theory, the theory that labor constitutes an undifferentiated mass, in which any increase in the number dislodges some workers and depresses wages.
But this is not so. Different jobs require different skills, and we have shortages of workers with some skills and surpluses of workers with other skills. A selective immigration program that encouraged certain skills and professions could help us expand critical occupations and promote continued economic growth.
These are critical concerns. We are one of the very few developed nations in the world not likely to suffer economic decline. Demographers predict that aging populations will produce economic decline elsewhere.
What can permit us to avoid the population decline that would produce economic decline? You guessed it -- immigration.
I'm Bob Evans, and that's my perspective.
