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"So how exactly do immigrants create jobs?" The same way newly born Americans do: they consume goods and services.

• thaumaturgy 17y ago
  They also boot-strap economies. Individuals with good product ideas, a field of consumers, and cheap labor can produce large numbers of goods that can be exported as well as consumed in local economies. This is much harder to do when dealing with labor that has an upward force applied to its wages, either by being artificially limited (as in current immigration policies) or by requiring a rare skill. Economies aren't zero-sum games. I really don't get why more people don't understand this.
• InclinedPlane 17y ago
  That's the "broken windows" theory, which is half right. They actually create jobs by doing work. Imagine the simplest case of 2 people (Alice and Bob) and a single $100 bill. If Alice is kind hearted and gives Bob $100 every time she is able but Bob pays $100 for Alice's work (say, making a chair, painting a house, etc.) this isn't a functional economy. All of Alice's labor goes to benefit Bob, Alice would be better off abstaining from the "economy" and using her labor to benefit herself. Now imagine that Alice gives Bob $100 for work that Bob's done, then Bob gives Alice $100 for work that Alice has done, etc, etc. Alice then ends up with the fruits of Bob's labor, and Bob ends up with the fruits of Alice's labor, if they have unique skills then this true economy could be mutually beneficial. The trading of money is just a proxy for the bartering of goods and services, money is just paper. Doing work contributes positively to the economy, it's the fundamental building block of the economy (not spending money).