Tom Friedman: Immigrants can bail us out
Thomas Friedman promotes the wise idea, if I do say so myself, of quality, long-term immigration as a way to fuel U.S. growth and revival. Read the whole thing here.
The Open-Door BailoutLeave it to a brainy Indian to come up with the cheapest and surest way to stimulate our economy: immigration.
“All you need to do is grant visas to two million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper. “We will buy up all the subprime homes. We will work 18 hours a day to pay for them. We will immediately improve your savings rate — no Indian bank today has more than 2 percent nonperforming loans because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful here. And we will start new companies to create our own jobs and jobs for more Americans.”
Comments
There are already hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Indian and other nationals in the US, patiently waiting for years (sometimes up to 10) to get a green card. Look up "I-485" or "adjustment of status" - there is the whole parallel universe that most citizens don't see. Maybe we should first let those people finally get that piece of paper and see how it goes?
Also there already is a visa category for people who'd like to open business in the US and create jobs (I think it's E category). There is some substantial investment required though - $1 mil. or $500K in some cases. But with less money I don't really see how anyone could buy a home and open a serious business anyway.
Posted by: Jelena | February 13, 2009 2:34 PM
I'm all for anyone who works.
Posted by: MikeA | February 13, 2009 7:38 PM