The immigration of relatively unskilled workers poses a fundamental problem for liberals. While from the perspective of the economic welfare of natives, the optimal policy would be to admit these aliens as guest workers, this policy would violate liberal ideals. These ideals would treat these...

In this article, I draw upon economic theory and recent empirical work on the economic and fiscal effects of immigration to evaluate some recent proposals for immigration reform in terms of their effects on the economic welfare of natives in the United States. In particular, I consider the...

This paper describes the immigration policy that would maximize the welfare of natives. Trade principles indicate that the United States should eliminate its immigration quotas and other non-tariff protectionist barriers and use immigration tariffs instead

Economists recognize that nations can gain from trade through not only the free movement of goods across national boundaries but also the free movement of services, capital, and labor across national boundaries. Despite the presumption that economic theory raises in favor of international labor...

This paper takes economic principles commonly applied to international trade and applies them to trade in labor services. This analysis derives the optimal immigration policy for a variety of welfare objectives, including both economic efficiency and distributive justice. The analysis suggests...