[Edited Message Follows] [Reason: Corrected typos in first para] A report in today's Wall Street Journal reflects the ambivalence in ruling class circles about the post-pandemic wave of immigration into North America, Western Europe, and Australia. Cheap immigrant labour is concentrated mainly in agriculture, construction, mining, and some service sectors and is blamed by some economists for overall historically low levels of productivity in the advanced capitalist societies. But as the report notes, scientists, engineers, and other highly-skilled workers in the high-tech and other industries can help boost firms’ productivity.
Nativist resistance to cheap immigrant labour is likely the more important factor contributing to growing government ambivalence and retreat in their immigration policy. The Journal report cites instances of states trying to slow immigration by encouraging automation, wage equalization, and quotas. So long, however, as labour shortages persist and employers can find sources of cheap labour outside their home markets, they will continue to apply countervailing pressure allowing them to do so. "Finding the right balance between allowing some migration, which can help restore dynamism in aging countries, and avoiding overdependence is hard”, the report states. https://www.wsj.com/economy/business-immigrant-low-skilled-labor-addiction-bf009a83?mod=djem10point -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29232): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29232 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104706972/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
