I'm glad to see immigration being raised here in the comments. Yes, "a lack of political will," but one might hope that this is a passing problem and that we can act more intelligently and move toward the win-win of opening up immigration and easing the American problem of age category discrepancy, with too many old people and not enough young. The reluctance to address immigration has always struck me as absurd, given this country's history. This history includes my own people who were part of the back-and-forth travel that saw Quebecois helping build New England's industry even while establishing ethnic enclaves within New England. Such stories are countless and the consequence positive pretty much without exception. My fear is that like the No-Nothings of the 19th Century here in the States, today's anti-immigrant sentiment is likewise based on racist concepts and the never-helpful "Us versus Them" mentality.
Agreed, David. Given our circumstances, you'd think increasing legal immigration would be a no-brainer. But our political climate leaves a lot to be desired. We have a former president looking to regain his office who is promising to enact a ban on Muslims entering the country. Tens of millions of Americans will applaud and vote for him next year. This is America and it's not pretty.
I'm curious to know Gurri's thoughts on immigration, which seem like a common sense solution to the regional shrinking population issue. A robust immigration policy would benefit the US right now, we lack political will and leadership.
Right, Gurri doesn't address that. According to the census, immigration now accounts for 77% of US population growth. Of course, there are political considerations in increasing immigration even more. Nativists and others would object, but you're right. We lack the political will and capable, visionary leadership is in short supply. https://cis.org/Report/Estimating-Impact-Immigration-US-Population-Growth
I'm glad to see immigration being raised here in the comments. Yes, "a lack of political will," but one might hope that this is a passing problem and that we can act more intelligently and move toward the win-win of opening up immigration and easing the American problem of age category discrepancy, with too many old people and not enough young. The reluctance to address immigration has always struck me as absurd, given this country's history. This history includes my own people who were part of the back-and-forth travel that saw Quebecois helping build New England's industry even while establishing ethnic enclaves within New England. Such stories are countless and the consequence positive pretty much without exception. My fear is that like the No-Nothings of the 19th Century here in the States, today's anti-immigrant sentiment is likewise based on racist concepts and the never-helpful "Us versus Them" mentality.
Agreed, David. Given our circumstances, you'd think increasing legal immigration would be a no-brainer. But our political climate leaves a lot to be desired. We have a former president looking to regain his office who is promising to enact a ban on Muslims entering the country. Tens of millions of Americans will applaud and vote for him next year. This is America and it's not pretty.
I'm curious to know Gurri's thoughts on immigration, which seem like a common sense solution to the regional shrinking population issue. A robust immigration policy would benefit the US right now, we lack political will and leadership.
Right, Gurri doesn't address that. According to the census, immigration now accounts for 77% of US population growth. Of course, there are political considerations in increasing immigration even more. Nativists and others would object, but you're right. We lack the political will and capable, visionary leadership is in short supply. https://cis.org/Report/Estimating-Impact-Immigration-US-Population-Growth