Immigration Math Is Not What You Would Think

The Economics of Immigration Are Not What You Think

With my colleague Jiwon Vellucci, we found, to start, that more than one-third of recent immigrants come from Europe and Asia, while less than 57 percent have come from Mexico and other Latin American nations.

That is such an interesting way to word it. I think it pretty much sums up any potential biases within the article.

Let's say Mr. Shapiro and I won the lottery together. Can't you just picture him saying...

Let's split the winnings fairly. I'll take less than 57% for myself. That will leave you with more than one-third!

Hey, just a thought.

The evidence regarding the impact of immigration on wages also turns up some surprising results. First, there’s simply no evidence that the recent waves of immigration have slowed the wage progress of average, native-born American workers.

Rumor has it that obscenely highly paid CEOs are making the "average" native-born American workers seem better off than they really are. Has that been factored into the analysis?

Critics blast Boy Scouts for CEO's $1 million compensation

"This is crazy. This is just crazy. First class tickets. Country clubs, Admirals Club? This is ridiculous,” said Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, which provides independent analysis of non-profit organizations.

How about "average" native-born American teenagers? Has that been factored in?

Are immigrants to blame for teen unemployment?

"The decline in teenage employment is very worrisome because a large body of research shows that those who do not work as teenagers often fail to develop the work habits necessary to function in the labor market later in life," said Steven Camarota, the director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies who co-authored a study about the issue.

Overall immigration – both legal and illegal – is a major factor in the steady decline in U.S.-born teenage participation in the summer workforce, according to a report issued Wednesday by Camarota's organization, an anti-illegal immigration think tank that believes in restricting legal immigration.

"A Drought of Summer Jobs, Immigration and the Long-term Decline in Employment among U.S. Born Teenagers" shows charts comparing various occupations and states. Before the current recession, the summer labor force participation of U.S.-born teens was decreasing, the report says.