4 ms·

I mean realistically the US has little to lose by letting Mexicans (actual Mexicans with Mexican citizenship) into the US the sort of way an (USA)American can g

I mean realistically the US has little to lose by letting Mexicans (actual Mexicans with Mexican citizenship) into the US the sort of way an (USA)American can go the other way. Frankly it's a pretty weak concession. I think we would have done it in exchange for free flow of capital if pressed.

miguelazo 4y ago
I think that’s completely off the table in the US politically. Look at how hard it is to even get existing quotas raised or legal immigration processes streamlined. Most of the country would be extremely opposed to such a policy, and many for less “noble” reasons than economics. What matters is real life, and when a huge part of the population suddenly has to contend with labor competition willing to work for 1/4 the price, you’re talking about a civil war.
- notch898a 4y ago
  You may be right but i think the 1/4 the price notion is misplaced. It's when they are in Mexico that they're 1/4 the price, and that's already legal due to free flow of goods with NAFTA. I can pay $2, $3 an hour and have the Mexican produce the widget and import it. If the Mexican is allowed to come to USA, now I have to either pay more to the remaining Mexicans (supply vs demand) or pay them minimum wage in the USA, which actually makes them MORE EXPENSIVE competition and thus the (USA)American working stiff relatively more attractive to employ. When Mexicans can come work in the US they generally have to be paid more (at the very least due to minimum wage). So we'd be angry because now we're competing against.... more expensive labor? It's not the voting masses of people at the bottom that benefit from current policy, it's those at the top. NAFTA is the worst of both worlds for labor on both sides, which makes it democratically unattractive.
  - miguelazo 4y ago
    This is an Econ 101 hypothetical scenario. In the real world, there would be several years (or more) of massive economic dislocation. The bottom line is you would immediately be increasing the labor pool vastly in a certain number of trades/industries. You're also only focused on the US-- Mexico would suffer even more by having more of its most mobile, ambitious laborers flee the country.

miguelazo 4y ago

I think that’s completely off the table in the US politically. Look at how hard it is to even get existing quotas raised or legal immigration processes streamlined. Most of the country would be extremely opposed to such a policy, and many for less “noble” reasons than economics. What matters is real life, and when a huge part of the population suddenly has to contend with labor competition willing to work for 1/4 the price, you’re talking about a civil war.

notch898a 4y ago
You may be right but i think the 1/4 the price notion is misplaced. It's when they are in Mexico that they're 1/4 the price, and that's already legal due to free flow of goods with NAFTA. I can pay $2, $3 an hour and have the Mexican produce the widget and import it. If the Mexican is allowed to come to USA, now I have to either pay more to the remaining Mexicans (supply vs demand) or pay them minimum wage in the USA, which actually makes them MORE EXPENSIVE competition and thus the (USA)American working stiff relatively more attractive to employ. When Mexicans can come work in the US they generally have to be paid more (at the very least due to minimum wage). So we'd be angry because now we're competing against.... more expensive labor? It's not the voting masses of people at the bottom that benefit from current policy, it's those at the top. NAFTA is the worst of both worlds for labor on both sides, which makes it democratically unattractive.
- miguelazo 4y ago
  This is an Econ 101 hypothetical scenario. In the real world, there would be several years (or more) of massive economic dislocation. The bottom line is you would immediately be increasing the labor pool vastly in a certain number of trades/industries. You're also only focused on the US-- Mexico would suffer even more by having more of its most mobile, ambitious laborers flee the country.