Do low wages for unskilled workers weaken the case for more immigration?by Tyler Cowen on May 26, 2013 at 12:36 pm in Economics | Permalink
And gets absolutely schooled in the comments by Peter Schaeffer. Here's the most stunning:
Yet another nail for the coffin. U.S. health care expenditures are around $12 per hour for the entire economy. The minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. If a minimum wage worker paid 100% of his income in taxes (or health care premiums), America would still lose $4.75 on health care costs alone.
And Tyler wants to flood American with low-skill immigrants to drive wages down further (presumably after repealing the minimum wage)? Is this meant to be a parody of ‘privatizing profits and socializing costs’? Perhaps it is.
Of course, it can be argued that low-skill immigrants don’t cost $12 per hour in health care costs. As long as they are young and single that is true. However, low-skill immigrants have children and grow old just like everyone else. Even if they don’t cost $12 per hour in health care costs now, they will cost far more than $12 per hour in the future.
The welfare state and low-skill immigration don’t play nice. One or the other has to go. Since the welfare state is only expanding, it should be obvious that mass immigration has to end.
Peter goes on to give his sources for this $12 per hour estimate later in the comments.
In defense of Tyler, there's a non-negligible chance that he's playing a double game here, offering a parody of autistic economic theory in the hopes that his commenters will destroy his argument so he can help get the truth out without him having to worry about being Richwined.
But, I'm probably overthinking ...
