In immigration you cannot and should not have the cake and eat it too

Sir, Marin Wolf’s suggestion that “Immigration can no longer be ignored” September 29, is a perfect example of how muddled this issue is since his prime recommendation that “the focus now should be on bringing in skilled people who are most likely to make a big economic contribution to the country” will of course only deepen that divide that makes unskilled labor even more willing to risk their life’s crossing it. When we think about the capital labor relation that economics is really all about going Wolf’s way makes us just think about “if only we poorer countries could classify the capital as skilled and unskilled”.

Wolf’s skilled/unskilled dilemma also reminded me of a new development of expensive houses close to Washington, where the new owners had to get together and build some low price houses, so that persons willing and capable of being firemen could afford to move in close enough to be able to arrive before the houses had burned down. Also, in the long term, it is very difficult to see how a country could be better off keeping the relative incentives for their domestic low skilled workers high, while imposing competition on the skilled ones since to me it sounds like a sure recipe to end up as servants to the newcomers.

Finally when Wolf tells us that “Countries matter . . . as communities with a shared destiny” he, as a columnist that thrives on globalization, should also remember that whether we like it or not, all these communities are part of a bigger humanity living on a small planet.

Martin Wolf immigration skilled