[Wvq9InTM]

Would that be "insourcing"?

[Lictimind]

Thank you. Come again.

ACK!

[golozhopik]

What's your status? Alien on parole?

[arriplify]

Getting to work for Goldman Sachs

Depressing prices of native workforce

USA

[ThisIsOK]

Getting to work for Goldman Sachs

Depressing prices of native workforce

Could you please explain to me why depressing the wages of the "native workforce" is a bad thing when the portion of the "native workforce" I have an impact on is in the top 1% of the income distribution of the US?

When an exogenous supply shock (me!) causes the wages of a certain portion of the labour force go down the real wages of everybody else go up (the things I produce are produced more cheaply, allowing others to purchase more of them with the same nominal wage). The economic effects of this are the same as the effects of an exogenous demand shock for labour caused by technological innovation. In other words, if somebody invented a robot which could do my job with the operational cost per year equal to my salary, would you say this was a bad thing because it "depresses the wages of the native workforce"? If so, then you're nothing more than a Luddite. And at least the Luddites protested the displacement of workers who were not paid ridiculous sums of money.

Importing skilled workers is beneficial in every way:

1) It increases the general welfare of the natives of the country (allows more to be produced with less)
2) It reduces income inequality amongst the natives of the country (transfers wealth from highly-skilled, highly-paid workers to lower-paid workers)
3) It benefits the imported worker

For the country losing the skilled worker, the effects are generally negative. However, it's been hypothesized that when the country in question is very poor relative to the country gaining the skilled worker, the prospect of "winning the lottery" (getting to work in a high-income country) causes much more human capital investment than would otherwise be the case, increasing welfare there as well. Likely the biggest losers in skilled worker migration are countries which already have high human capital development (so the elasticity of supply is not strong).

Russia and much of the Eastern Bloc are enormous losers when it comes to skilled labour migration. They had a highly-educated workforce, so foreign demand has little effect on educational levels. Meanwhile, they are rather poorer than are countries with similar cultures and languages (it's easier for Russians to learn English than it is for Chinese to learn English) so the incentives to migrate are high and the impediments low.

[vipdumpp]

Nice play on words.

[Candykiss]

Nice guys that ALREADY MAKE FAR MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON



Why is it okay for machines to displace low-income workers in favour of high-income workers, but not okay for immigrants to displace high-income workers in favour of low-income workers?

[Beerinkol]

Nice guys that ALREADY MAKE FAR MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON



Why is it okay for machines to displace low-income workers in favour of high-income workers, but not okay for immigrants to displace high-income workers in favour of low-income workers?

My main beef with immigration is actually not economic, so I'm just teasing you.
I'm opposed to immigration of groups that are hostile to the native country, those
that show no wish to adapt to its customs and actively subvert the system. If
you make an effort to become a true American you're OK in my book.

[Buincchotourbss]

KH is more American than most Americans.

[vladekad]

My main beef with immigration is actually not economic, so I'm just teasing you.
I'm opposed to immigration of groups that are hostile to the native country, those
that show no wish to adapt to its customs and actively subvert the system. If
you make an effort to become a true American you're OK in my book.

I plan to get others to watch hockey and eat poutine.

Maybe I should start a smoked meat shop.

[Vmysobfi]

If and when I have kids they will only speak Canadian at houme.

I'm going to make sure all their schooulwork includes extrauneous 'u's and they know the proper way to pronounce 'zed'.

:angruy:

[FloareTraurne]

Either that or I'll change my name to Vikram and cook curry and naan in my apartment.

[casinobonbiner]

Hmm, I can't wait till I get my H1B Visa.

Welcome to America KH.

Two things:
1) You have not and will never qualify for H1-Bs. People with history degrees and no specialty do not become classified as someone in a specialty occupation. In general, people imported on H1-Bs are people with hard to find specialties -- stuff that's hard to staff locally. At my consulting firm most of the guys had H1-Bs to work in the US or Canada (which I didn't need, since I'm a dual citizen), but they were software developers specializing in financial services. People who tutor people dumb enough to not recognize they have a stupid tutor do not qualify.
2) You are not in America, so you cannot welcome people to it.

[IoninnyHaro]

Also, did Ben just "welcome" me to the US when I've been living here for over six years?

WTF is the matter with that kid?

[larentont]

I'm sure employers are lining up to drop 10k on DHS and lawyer's fees to get Ben's incontrovertibly essential services. They paid 10k to get you a H1B visa?

You got robbed good sir.

[Sleedyhex]

Clearly they didn't do a thorough background check. Typical Homeland Security.

[Automobill]

I'm selling sarcasm detectors.

In no ****ing way was that sarcasm.

[Kilaoksrsa]

Yes, I'm estimating the rate. I didn't ask what he charged because, as you say, it's not coming out of my paycheque. I do know it's generally assessed on base salary for the first year.

[VyacheslaV]

[rowneigerie]

Welcome to America

Hello, very kind of you. I have always wanted to come to your great country. Now I have been given inestimable opportunity based on great technical prowess in my home country. I hope to try your american hot dogs and watch the Yankees of New York play baseball, which is very similar to our cricket.