immigration

The new immigration policy has many good topics for conversation. The one I want to address today is the scoring system for allowing in new people based on specific skills. This is a great idea if done correctly (i.e. without politics mucking it up). The US needs a steady influx of specialists to stay competitive. There are two good reasons for that.

1. We need the expertise. US education in science, math, engineering is falling behind. It is not that the professors are providing quality education, it is that the best students don't find these fields exciting enough. They go into law and business. Not that law and business aren't good too, but the development of new industries for lawyers and businesses to support requires new technologies.

2. We need to compete. If these experts are not coming here, they are still going to create new technologies elsewhere. The US has always drawn the best and brightest (causing "brain drains" elsewhere). After 9/11 we made it harder and tech development started growing faster elsewhere. It is a shame that not only did we lose the growth, but we gave it to our competitors. I am not a protectionist by any stretch. But all other things being equal, I would rather see great new innovations emerge here and support our own workforce and economy.

So I hope that the final immigration law that passes has strong support for bringing in those with the skills and talents to innovate. That should be a no brainer, no matter what else is in it. It is great that some of my favorite econ blogs agree with me (Becker, Mankiw, Kling).