2 ms·

the real issue, unanswered by the article, is why didn't linsen li get job offers here? because the premise that we want to keep all the smart people here to ge

the real issue, unanswered by the article, is why didn't linsen li get job offers here? because the premise that we want to keep all the smart people here to generate more economic value for "us" rather than "them" is hard to disfavor. 1. was he deficient in some way that makes him unsuitable for the job? 2. did the university not provide the needed skills for the teaching positions he was applying for? 3. is the supply of qualified applicants so high that many receive no offers? 4. is there just not enough funding to employ every qualified academic? 5. is the regulatory environment such that we force many qualified jobseekers to look elsewhere? ...and so on. these seem to be the more pertinent questions in this case, not the political "trump is xenophobic and his policy sucks" slant of the article (whether you agree with that sentiment or not), because the uncertainty around imiigration policy doesn't seem to have had direct bearing in this situation. li didn't get a job in the US, so he's going to china, where he did get a job. pretty straightforward. with that said, i believe we should allow much more immigration, not less (contrary to trump's position), but the light and disjoint reasoning in this article was a head scratcher.

ylem 9y ago
Let's say you apply for a faculty position at a good public university. In physics, it would not be uncommon for there to be around 200 applicants. Imagine that only say 50 of them are great...Teaching positions are also competitive. That's one level. Now, the US is in an enviable position of being able to skim top people from around the world who come here to study--so we end up with a huge competition for a small pool of positions. The notion being that all other things being equal, having a large candidate pool is more likely to result in stronger candidates. That's what we risk giving up by limiting immigration--especially after we (I am from the US) train people here to do research.

ylem 9y ago

Let's say you apply for a faculty position at a good public university. In physics, it would not be uncommon for there to be around 200 applicants. Imagine that only say 50 of them are great...Teaching positions are also competitive. That's one level. Now, the US is in an enviable position of being able to skim top people from around the world who come here to study--so we end up with a huge competition for a small pool of positions. The notion being that all other things being equal, having a large candidate pool is more likely to result in stronger candidates. That's what we risk giving up by limiting immigration--especially after we (I am from the US) train people here to do research.