The Opportunity Cost for Immigration

[Mattw]

In some of Stefan's videos he mentions the opportunity cost of immigration. In particular, he says that one new immigrant is going to cost one native born. Does anybody have any statistics that would support this claim?

 

 

Time 12:45

 

For every immigrant who comes in:

1. You get one less native born person.

2. Taxes go up.

3. Housing prices go up.

4. Education quality goes down.

5. Opportunities goes down because fewer jobs are created.

 

I can see the reasoning on why immigration can push down the fertility rate but some actual numbers would help.

 

My own view is that immigration facilitates the movement toward equality. Behind the banner of equality sits communism. Therefore, any logical argument with the left against immigration is likely to fall on deaf ears. They are not trying to make a better country. They are trying to make all countries equal.

 

Better is not better. Equal is better. Or at least that is what the left believes.

[Mister Mister]

This is the problem with opportunity cost in general, it is very difficult to measure.  When the government "creates" $50,000 jobs, it's impossible to know how many jobs of what kind, at what pay, would have been created otherwise.

[Thus_Spake_the_Nightspirit]

I don't know of any studies on this. It would be a hard thing to research. It's not simply a matter of surveying people and asking if they chose to have fewer kids because of immigration. There are people who want kids, but can't afford them because the cost of living is rising and the taxes they pay are rising (both effects of immigration). There are people who put off having kids because they're waiting for a better foothold in life and then find out they can't have any. There will be people who say their country is shit thanks to immigration so there is no point bringing another life into the picture. There are people who become convinced that they don't want kids because they would rather live in sacrifice to the immigrants and their kids. Logically, though, it makes some sense that the more immigrants there are into a welfare state, the fewer native born children there will be. You can't support your own family if you are working to feed everyone else's.