First of all, I am not directly advocating immigration nor am I against it—I am analyzing one particular aspect of it. A common reaction towards immigration is “they are robbing our jobs” and I tried to outline the faulty logic underneath that. They are not stealing anything, but becoming part of the economy.
Immigration is a complex issue that has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. If there are food shortages in a country, adding more people makes no sense. If there is, as you say, an excess of capital, but not enough people to invest it into, it does make sense. Australia is only one particular case.
Since the argument I am making is a priori, I don’t need data.
Can you elaborate on the connection between capital and immigration? In particular, who is paying the aforementioned $300,000 - $500,000? It’s not like every immigrant is getting a paycheck. If these are public expenses paid over a long period of time, I don’t see the problem. You are right in saying that excessive population growth or immigration is detrimental, though. (This is why I made the distinction between short-term and long-term)
If the population growth is organic and at a sustainable rate, doesn’t this lead to a higher GDP, which is a desirable outcome?
First of all, I am not directly advocating immigration nor am I against it—I am analyzing one particular aspect of it. A common reaction towards immigration is “they are robbing our jobs” and I tried to outline the faulty logic underneath that. They are not stealing anything, but becoming part of the economy.
Immigration is a complex issue that has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. If there are food shortages in a country, adding more people makes no sense. If there is, as you say, an excess of capital, but not enough people to invest it into, it does make sense. Australia is only one particular case.
Since the argument I am making is a priori, I don’t need data.
Can you elaborate on the connection between capital and immigration? In particular, who is paying the aforementioned $300,000 - $500,000? It’s not like every immigrant is getting a paycheck. If these are public expenses paid over a long period of time, I don’t see the problem. You are right in saying that excessive population growth or immigration is detrimental, though. (This is why I made the distinction between short-term and long-term)
If the population growth is organic and at a sustainable rate, doesn’t this lead to a higher GDP, which is a desirable outcome?