Good morning, Power Readers.
George Borjas writes (WSJ column for which I don't have the link and didn't find the date):
Immigration policy is just another redistribution program. In the short run, it transfers wealth from one group (workers) to another (employers). Whether or not such transfers are desirable is one of the central questions in the immigration debate.
I agree with Arnold Kling: this is like saying that voluntary exchange is an income redistribution program.
Redistribution implies that trade is a zero-sum game. Borjas implies that immigration works like a tax on low-income workers and a subsidy to high-income employers. Of course, in any sort of competitive market, employers do not profit from lower costs but must instead pass them onto consumers. But why let a little economics get in the way of a folk-Marxist story?