Immigrants Do Jobs Natives Don't Want To Do

President Bush explained it all to us yet again in yesterday's press conference. Immigrants "do jobs Americans aren't doing." Somehow I missed this exchange when it first happened. It's nice to learn that billionaires don't get left behind when it comes to getting some of the benefits from immigration.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says golf fairways would suffer if illegal immigrants were returned to their native country.

"You and I are beneficiaries of these jobs," Bloomberg told his WABC-AM radio co-host, John Gambling. "You and I both play golf; who takes care of the greens and the fairways in your golf course?"

Ok. Now I understand what Bush and Bloomberg are trying to say. Remember those bad old days when there was much less illegal immigration. Why, you can even see it now when you travel to parts of the country that have few illegal immigrants. The greens and fairways of golf courses are unhealthy, and brown, and unkempt. [Editor: Hey GB, you are all wrong. Golf courses looked pretty nice back then and look pretty nice just about everywhere now.......Ooops, I guess I still don't understand what Bush and Bloomberg are trying to say.]

Comments

[Torben]

George:

I am not convinced with the issue of wage immigration debate. In my understanding, economics suggests that the impact can not be cleary known on appriori ground. A lot evidences from US, continental Europe, etc suggest mixed results which I belive is consistent with the economics. However, your researches always suggest the negative effect. For instance, "THE IMPACT OF MASS MIGRATION ON THE ISRAELI LABOR MARKET* RACHEL M. FRIEDBERG" in QJE report a result contradictory outcome to your results. Historically we have witnessed latge immigration in Israel, Portugal, West Germany, and ofcourse the US. But, in none of these coutries wage seem to decline. What is your reaction?

I would like us to get the economics correct before we proceed. Immigrants have impact not only on the labor market, but also on the output market. If you take into account the two effects, I think you end up with unclear results.

[Torben]

Plus when you take into account that output will not remain constant in the presence of immigrants.

[Steve Sailer]

Mayor Bloomberg plays golf frequently at Deepdale on Long Island. Deepdale might be "the most reclusive club in America," and it "hosts maybe ten rounds per day," according to golf course architect Tom Doak in his indispensable Confidential Guide to Golf Courses. Thank God that billionaires like Bloomberg don't have to choose between paying groundskeepers a little more or putting up with fluffy lies in the fairway that make it harder to draw a 3-iron shot into Deepdale's notoriously rigorous 15th green.

[Bill]

Steve,

I know of a competitor for the 'most reclusive golf course'. There's a place called the 'institute' in Norcal, owned by the the Fry's guy, I think Richard Fry is his name.

It's basically his personal golf course, used only for him and his friends and business associates. I knew the guy who became the golf pro there and from what I gather it gets much less than 10 rounds per day on avg.

Also, I used to work at a high end country club, again in Norcal. We paid (legally on our end) the groundskeeping Mexicans about $10/hr on average. If there were no Mexicans I'm sure the country club would still be there, but the dues would probably be a few dollars a month higher because they'd have to pay blacks or even whites $14/hr to mow grass in the sun all day.

[Steve Sailer]

Bob Hope once said that the ultra-exclusive Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, CA just finished a successful membership drive: "They drove out 40 members."

That does remind me of a serious point about immigration. Open Borders propagandists often play on Americans' patriotism by claiming that having the most immigrants shows the world we're the best country.

But, in daily life, it's not the most crowded insititutions that are the most prestigious, it's the ones with the longest lines outside clamoring to get in, like Dr. Borjas' Harvard, or Augusta National Golf Club, which kept Bill Gates cooling his heels on the waiting list for a number of years, even though Warren Buffett was sponsoring his membership application.