Wednesday, December 07, 2005

A Gem on the Free Movement of Labour

In today’s message from the Foundation for Economics Education (FEE) there is a timely piece on the free movement of labour between countries, quoting from the New York Times. This is a ‘hot’ political issue in the US at present. Adam Smith, rightly, was not worried about the free movement of labour – or capital stock – among countries and it was one of his conditions for realising the full gains from Natural Liberty. It is therefore part of his legacy.

FEE gets it absolutely right:

Working Mexicans Cross Border, Study Says”“A report about the work lives of recent Mexican immigrants in seven cities across the United States suggests that they typically traded jobs in Mexico for the prospect of work here, despite serious bouts of unemployment, job instability and poor wages. . . . Unlike the stereotype of jobless Mexicans heading north, most of the immigrants had been employed in Mexico, the report found.” (
New York Times, Wednesday)

It takes prodigious twisting of logic to find a threat in people seeking better lives.”

Check it out at: FEE--In brief [inbrief@fee.org] It is well worth while for the occasional gem like this one.

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