Who’s “Taking Our Jobs Away”?

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


One of the oft-cited arguments against allowing increased immigration is that all those immigrants will take jobs away from Americans. In the abstract, that’s a somewhat misguided point. Immigration growth is very similar to having rapid population growth because of higher birthrates—both increase the number of working-age people in the United States—and we rarely hear calls for people to have fewer kids on the theory that all those youngsters will “take our jobs away.” There isn’t a fixed number of work in this country, and population growth means—again, in theory—more jobs for everyone.

Anyway, Mark Thoma has more on this point, and there’s a good debate in his comments section (including people that don’t agree that the two are exactly the same) that’s very much worth reading.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate