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At present, it is arguably a very poor idea for the average American to earn a PhD in science (or anything else). I am concerned about removing the cap on visas
by falsestprophet 19y ago
At present, it is arguably a very poor idea for the average American to earn a PhD in science (or anything else). I am concerned about removing the cap on visas for foreign graduate students in science.
When there is an unlimited supply of foreigners willing to work for nothing, salaries for graduate students will surely be depressed even further. I suspect they may decrease to the minimum wage. I suspect few Westerners, with much better options, would be willing to work for the minimum wage for the better part of a decade.
There may be an increase in the number of PhD graduates as a result of their cheapness. Of course, the salaries for professional researchers would then drop. Very suddenly, scientists will become a cheap commodity.
These new visas may be a good thing for business, but I fear they are a disaster for any American making a career in science.
- newt0311 19y agoEconomic fallacy of the make work bias. If scientists become cheap commodities, they will start to switch jobs until the salaries equalize the other options again. Case in point: In the early 1800s about 98% of the US population was in agriculture. Now the number is less than 2%. In the middle, farms started to get commodotized and it became less and less lucrative to be a farmer so farmers switched to higher paying jobs. Imagine what would have happened if 98% of us were still in farming?
- moog 19y agoI think I'd like to be a neo-farmer in 2008. With a little land, a few solar panels and access to clean water I'm sure most of us here could make a go of it. Multi-purpose robots are coming soon - they'll be able to help out when the harvest arrives.
- albertcardona 19y agoSo you welcome [Asimov's] Caves of Steel scenario. Why not.
- moog 19y agoAdded to my reading list. I'll try to track down the 1989 BBC radio version.
- falsestprophet 19y agoI don't think that idea applies in this case. The imported scientists have less natural job mobility than native scientists for several reasons: racism, poor English, and cultural differences. They probably also have serious artificial barriers to switching jobs and industries because of their visas. This law is removes the enormous artificial benefit of American citizenship (due to military, cultural and financial dominance) from one industry (science). This will change science dramatically compared to other industries. Should a student prefer a career in an industry with artificial barriers firmly in place (like law or finance or management or even plumbing) or a career where American citizenship affords no benefit (like science or migrant farming)?
- falsestprophet 19y agoWhat kind of a future do you imagine in which science is analogous to subsistence farming?
- icky 19y agoSomething like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3DyxaCYlfg&fmt=18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3DyxaCYlfg&fmt=18
- anewaccountname 19y agoThe only answer is to give them full citizenship and make them Americans.