In a message dated 8/14/02 1:47:39 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Would we get less desirable immigrants, relative to picking and choosing among applicants? Would the homeless prefer to cash out and leave, rather than stay and beg here? Would people tend to leave when they retire? >> Wouldn't some of the answers hinge on what price the government charged for the shares? I homeless person would seem more likely to cash out his share and move elsewhere if he could sell the share for $10,000 or $100,000 than if he could sell it for only $1,000 or $100. If the proceeds would tend to pay for the cost of relocation (perhaps including a home in the new country) then he'd probably be much more likely to leave than if selling the share would leave him not only homeless, but also country-less. On the other hand, if the result of being country-less would be incareration in some place that gave him free meals and health care, he might very well sell his share for $100 or even $10. The price of the share would also seem to affect the type of immigrants we'd get. It seems that if people could buy a share for $100 we'd get much poorer immigrants than if a share cost $1000 or $10,000. Of course, are we defining "desireable" as wealthier? Mightn't we want poorer immigrants who would come and work as migrant farm laborers or janitors or in other positions that spoiled Americans like me wouldn't want to work? :) Sincerely, David
