In light of the fact that immigration controls are a big part of today’s discussion again, I thought it would be good to repost this quote from a respected economist.
"Wages in rich countries are determined more by immigration control than anything else, including any minimum wage legislation. How is the immigration maximum determined? Not by the 'free' labor market, which, if left alone, will end up replacing 80 – 90 percent of native workers with cheaper, and often more productive, immigrants. Immigration is largely settled by politics. If the same market can be perceived to have varying degrees of freedom by different people, there is really no objective way to define how free that market is. In other words, the free market is an illusion. If some markets look free, it is only because we so totally accept the regulations that are propping them up that they become invisible."
~Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang
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