It is taken from page 200 of the late Nobel Laureate Economist. Douglas NorthChapter 7 of the 1961 paper “The United States in the International Economy, 1790-1950” American economic history (Seymour Harris, ed., 1961) (footnotes deleted, link added)
Immigration is by far the largest factor in the development of the United States economy of any foreign influence. Estimated. If there had been no immigration between 1870 and 1940, the population of the United States would have been 102 million, or about a quarter less, than 132 million. At no cost to raising and training them, our labor force has increased by about a third during this period as a result of immigration. Thus, it was an important element in the dynamic factor ratio that led to industrialization. Different abilities and skills have influenced all of our economic and social behavior. While in the short term immigration has caused many problems for the United States, in the long term it has been an important contributor to economic growth and American political democracy.
DBXGiven this historical reality, Oren Cass and his American Compass colleagues — who yearn for the government to restructure the U.S. economy to create more manufacturing jobs — are laughable. They want to limit immigration more.
To be clear, contrary to the belief of people in the US compass and, more generally, among people in NatCon circles – there is nothing inherently superior about manufacturing jobs. If our ancestors should have mourned the loss of agriculture, we should not mourn the loss of manufacturing.
Contrary to the expectations of people who have this fat for more production WorksIf the government succeeded in creating more jobs, not only would the average income of manufacturing workers be lower than it is now, but the average income of ordinary American workers in all sectors—manufacturing, mining, agriculture, services—would be lower. Americans’ living standards will fall. And despite any effect such restrictions may have on the division of labor in various sectors of the economy, this standard of living will fall further due to tighter restrictions on immigration.
