Nancy Folbre writes in her Economix blog at the New York Times about the Social Security problems caused by low fertility rates in the United States. These low fertility rates are associated with economic development and the introduction of birth control. This is a real problem which deserves attention but Folbre's blog post reminds me of why economics has been referred to as the "dismal science." She talks calmly about unrealistic solutions such as ending Social Security or offering dramatic economic support for families with children while completely missing an obvious and fairly workable solution for the United States -- more immigration.
4 comments:
Immigration would only alleviate some of the issues if it results in a grow of the workforce paying into Social Security.
Saying immigration fixes the fertility issue is like saying all tax cuts to the rich creates jobs.
More people in the U.S. will not lead to job growth, just a growing demographic group that may be able to work in more skilled jobs or unskilled jobs.
Bingo! Immigration. But, we're idiots. I've long suspected that the Federal Government's blind-eye to illegal immigration is really a stealth plan to bolster programs such as SS, but again, we're stupid, because we should be raping other countries of the cream of their crop of their highly educated citizens rather than letting third world peasants hop the southern border.
Official unemployment is over 8 percent, real unemployment is almost twice that, and the problem is we need more immigration. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Immigration policy can be adjusted to fix the long-term birth rate issue without affecting current unemployment numbers. It's not hard to comprehend.
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