Trump’s Wall and the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Immigration
*This is brilliant! A cost-benefit analysis of why undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. and how some of the immigration ideas being proposed (walls and such) are, in the final analysis, losers. VL
By Thomas More Smith, The Conversation
Two of the top GOP presidential contenders each claim professional creds that trump political experience (pun intended).
Trump’s empire, according to him, has a net worth of US$10 billion and is the only line on his CV that counts. “If you can run a huge business, you can run a country,” he seems to be saying.
[pullquote]The average monthly salary for construction laborers in Mexico is the equivalent of $235. The average monthly wage for a construction worker in the US is $2,499.[/pullquote]Carly Fiorina seems to be claiming the same thing as she touts her experience as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard (though some might add “into the ground” to that first phrase).
Both of these candidates (and every other Republican candidate) has an opinion on how to curb/reduce/eliminate undocumented immigrants. Given the business experience of the top candidates, their strategies for handling the issue are puzzling.“Let’s build a higher wall — and have Mexico pay for it.” “Let’s eliminate birth-right citizenship.” “Let’s use technology to rid the U.S. of undocumented immigrants.”
These policies fail to meet the standards of Business 101 because they ignore the cost-benefit equation of immigration. Here’s how.
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[Photo by Expert Infantry/Flickr]
