Alan Greenspan and Sen. Larry Craig

Date: Thursday, April 03, 2003 12:43 AM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Sir Greenspan and Sen. Craig of Idaho are quite a combo. They both
think that immigration is the only way to save older people in the U.S.
Never mind the fact that H-1B is being used by companies to replace
older Americans.

In the year 2000 Greenspan said that H-1B was necessary to prevent
wages from rising too high. Greenspan really likes the way things have
worked out with H-1B because we have high unemployment and lousy wages
- just what he thinks is important for companies to make huge profits.
Greenspan's reference to 1990 in this article is interesting because he
never said the "H-1B" word. That's very clever of him because insiders
know that 1990 marks the birth of H-1B.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7582653&BRD=1616&PAG=461&dept_id=160076&rfi=6

Greenspan Links Immigration to U.S. Economic Future

By: April 02, 2003

As the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) continues its
efforts for comprehensive labor and immigration reform, the association
is heartened by the fact that top government policymakers recognize the
vital role of immigrants in the U.S. economy now and in the future.

In late February, Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan
testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, chaired by Sen.
Larry Craig (R-ID). Greenspan's testimony described the economic impact
of an aging American population, which will lead to a slowly growing
population, diminishing growth in the labor force, and an increase in
the ratio of the elderly to the working-age population. By 2030, the
growth of the U.S. workforce will slow from one-percent of the
population to about half, according to Greenspan. At the same time, the
percentage of the population over 65 years will rise from thirteen
percent to twenty percent.
Greenspan described the fiscal impact of an aging society. "In
particular, it makes our social security and Medicare programs
unsustainable in the long run, short of a major increase in immigration
rates, a dramatic acceleration in productivity growth well beyond
historic experience, a significant increase in the age of eligibility
for benefits, or the use of general revenues to fund benefits,"
Greenspan stated.
According to Greenspan, immigration could prove a most potent antidote
for slowing growth in the working-age population. As the influx of
foreign workers in response to the tight labor markets of the 1990s
showed, immigration does respond to labor shortages.
An expansion of labor-force participation by immigrants and the healthy
elderly offers some offset to an aging population. "Fortunately, the
U.S. economy is uniquely well suited to make those adjustments," said
Greenspan. "Our open labor markets can adapt to the differing needs and
abilities of our older population. Our capital markets can allow for
the creation and rapid adoption of new labor-saving technologies, and
our open society has been receptive to immigrants. All these factors
put us in a good position to adjust to the [impacts] of an aging
population."
"ANLA is working diligently with both sides of Congress to ensure a
near-term and long-term labor force for the industry, and ANLA and the
Horticultural Research Institute have made labor-saving technologies a
top research priority," said Wayne Mezitt of Weston Nurseries, and
president of ANLA. "These efforts are intended to keep the nursery and
landscape sectors thriving in uncertain times."

)Grundy County Herald 2003

Help to Keep ZaZona.com Online

Donate to the Cause at
http://www.zazona.com/Donations.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubcribe send an email to

Back to archives