Home |
Site Index |
FAQs |
Contact |
RSS
|
Podcast
home > the cfr think tank > research projects > Council Special Report on Immigration
| Staff: | Sebastian Mallaby, Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics |
|---|---|
| Author: | Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego |
January 2006 - April 2007
Immigration is a toxic political issue in the United States. This report by University of California, San Diego Professor Gordon Hanson indicates that the economic costs of illegal immigration roughly match the economic benefits. That is, the net economic impact of illegal immigration is close to zero. Thus, the political debate must revolve around other sources of costs, or efforts to curb illegal immigration, such as increased border enforcement, would result in a net loss to the U.S.economy. He also finds that illegal immigration provides a labor supply that more closely tracks shifts in the need for labor across time and geography, while legal immigration—even when temporary—cannot keep up with these cyclical shifts. Any policy aimed at addressing the demand for low-skilled labor must also address the need for flexibility.
Publications
April 2007
| Author: | Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego |
|---|
Council Special Report No. 26
This report examines the economics of illegal immigration and finds that the fiscal benefits of illegal immigration offset its costs. Further, the report finds that the flexibility provided by the illegal immigration system that benefits the U.S. economy cannot be provided by the legal immigration system.
Meetings
The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration
Related Project: Council Special Report on Immigration
| Presider: | Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Speaker: | Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego |
Council Special Report on Immigration: Second Advisory Committee Meeting
Related Project: Council Special Report on Immigration
| Presider: | Mark R. Rosenzweig, Frank Altschul Professor of International Economics, Yale University |
|---|---|
| Speaker: | Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego |
Council Special Report on Immigration: First Advisory Committee Meeting
Related Project: Council Special Report on Immigration
| Presider: | Mark R. Rosenzweig, Frank Altschul Professor of International Economics, Yale University |
|---|---|
| Speaker: | Gordon H. Hanson, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego |
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
Complete list of CFR Books.
After two decades of liberalization, many countries around the world are adopting new restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) that could retard continued progress. The authors make recommendations for correcting this protectionist drift by proposing guidelines for how countries can better regulate FDI yet still reap its economic benefits.
In this Council Special Report, the authors make a strong case that the Bush administration’s policy of diplomatic isolation of Syria is not serving U.S. interests, and offer informed history and thoughtful analysis of the country and its external behavior.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1-212-434-9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1-212-434-9753
jhill@cfr.org
The David Rockefeller Studies Program is the Council’s “think tank.” Its work is integral to achieving the Council’s goal of contributing to the foreign policy debate. Fellows in the Studies Program do this by researching, writing, and commenting on the most important challenges facing the United States and the world.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
