In The News

Declining Immigration Slows Asian, Hispanic Growth

Hope Yen, Thu May May 14, 2009
Prior estimates of when minorities would overtake majorities in the US have been altered thanks to changes in immigration trends. Policies enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks are part of the cause for the change, but analysts surmise that the economic meltdown has had an effect as well. The US may no longer appear to be the land of opportunity for immigrants. Yet, while the inflow of people has...

Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home

Hiroko Tabuchi April 24, 2009
After allowing low-skilled laborers of Japanese descent from South America to work there for years, Japan is offering them pay packages and incentives to return to their home country with only one condition: don’t come back. The policy – meant to stem rising unemployment – is related to the slump in Japanese manufacturing that has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis. Many academics...

Wall Street Still Finds Ways to Hire Foreigners

Robin Sidel April 15, 2009
Wall Street banks that have received money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, “TARP”, are employing innovative methods to work around some of the migrant labor restrictions: relocating workers to international offices. One of the stipulations of TARP is that recipients prove that they have tried to hire American workers for the same job and that foreigners aren’t replacing US citizens when...

The Road Not Taken

March 20, 2009
The ability of workers to move for jobs, both inside a country and out, promotes business flexibility, the best use of skills and individual prosperity. But home ownership and a lack of universal health insurance have reduced mobility in the US, reports the Economist. People typically escape bad circumstances by moving to new locations, but Americans are trapped in overpriced homes and fear...

Workers Without Borders

Jennifer Gordon March 12, 2009
Laws on immigration are weak obstacles against the companies tempted by cheap labor or workers desperate for a better life. Attempting strict limits, imposing a fear of deportation and an unwillingness to report unfair conditions, the US system depresses wages and work conditions for all workers – citizens and legal and illegal immigrants alike – argues law professor Jennifer Gordon in an opinion...

Despite Rhetoric, Offshoring Won’t Stop

Dinesh C. Sharma March 9, 2009
As economic crisis sweeps the globe, citizens expect their political leaders to create jobs, but it leads to other problems in the process. For example, in the US, President Barack Obama has vowed to end “tax breaks” for companies that ship jobs overseas, causing consternation among some in the Indian IT industry. Indian IT provides services to financial, banking and insurance firms around the...

Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S.

Vivek Wadhwa March 3, 2009
One of the reasons for success of the US economy as the world’s engine of innovation and growth has been its ability to attract talents from abroad. But thanks to contentious changes in the US immigration policy, especially a temporary worker visa program known as H-1B, it is no longer the land of opportunity. There are indications that immigrants, unsuccessful at obtaining the right to stay and...