On Tue, 23 May 2006, Christoph Reuss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Arthur Cordell wrote: >> If the illegals didn't drive down wages or, at least, disallow wages to >> rise then all of economic theory must be wrong. I can't see how >> illegals would have no impact and I believe that their impact is to >> affect the lowest paid workers in our society who can't get increased >> wages: Asking for more means the employer would turn to the illegal >> instead. > >So you are in favor of the Wall? If not, what solution do you suggest? >Legalizing the illegals would also drive down wages. > >Chris
Not nearly to the same degree. Legal immigrants can't be paid less than the minimum wage, and both the employee and employer are subject to tax laws, and of course all the regulations for safe working conditions, things which illegals can't ever complain about. Obviously, legal immigrants are on a level playing field with anyone else seeking those jobs. Probably the most effective way to curb illegal immigration would be a complete overhaul and cleanup of the notoriously corrupt and cruelly exploitive maquilladora(sp) regions inside Mexico, essentially making them follow US OSHA style regulations. Let the US companies who want access to these workers operate there, but under the supervision of a reliable and ethical independent agency(ies), say with input from the ILO. Of course that won't affect the personal service industry, which is probably the most difficult segment of illegal employment to address, but that may be far from the most populous. -Pete _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
