Immigration

It's sad to hear things like this; that the financial crisis is cutting jobs and educated foreign people are finding it hard to stay in America due to work requirements. It should be obvious that a skill-based system like the ones Britain and Canada have, rather than a work and family run system, makes the most sense. I'm surprised you don't see more liberals argue for such a policy, as it reduces inequality (having more elites drives down the fees they charge) while improving efficiency and equity.

I'm for all sorts of immigration, but you do have to wonder about the long-run impact of tacitly allowing large-scale immigration of relatively poorly educated Hispanics. It's in their best economic interest and helps many people here as well. But you also have the Heckman result that family environments matter for educational attainment, and then the Godin-Katz result that education is driving trends in the distribution of income. I once asked Heckman about the implications of his research on immigration policy, but he was a bit evasive. Well, America will be home to a large number of people with sub-optimal education and income levels persisting across generations. Again, this is probably an optimal welfare transfer, but it's out of synch with the policy for foreign professionals and calls for some public policy (like early childhood intervention).