Comments on: Counterparties: The immigration stimulus

By: TFF

TFF — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 20:01:38 +0000

If I’m reading it right, OWS is buying “defaulted loans”, particularly medical and educational loans. These loans are typically sold to debt collectors — and because they aren’t collateralized, they are quite cheap once they are in default.

Yes, debts can be discharged in bankruptcy, but this gives the beneficiaries an opportunity to avoid bankruptcy.

Distressed housing would be much more costly.

By: weiwentg

weiwentg — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 11:11:07 +0000

What do people think of the debt forgiveness thing? An OWS affiliate/descendant is proposing to buy distressed housing or whatever other debt … and cancel it. Not sure how effective this will be, as people could discharge their debt in bankruptcy. Are debt securities still going for way under par?

By: wigglwagon

wigglwagon — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 09:05:53 +0000

Mass immigration only increases the size of the numbers as it drives down the standard of living for all but the exploitive employers. The employers whine and cry about wanting a free market but they insist on being allowed to manipulate the supply of labor in order to drive down wages and destroy benefits for all workers. In order to achieve this, they hire the propaganda mills like Cato to find what they want found.

By: y2kurtus

y2kurtus — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 03:25:18 +0000

Thomas Friedman is the best on immigration policy. The only people it makes any sense to let in are those who bring great education or capital. Give the young people at elite schools permanent residency upon graduation.

Unskilled laborers simply cannot pay for their retirement entitlements even if they work continuously from 18 to 67. It’s not a racial issue at all.

There are no fewer than 1,000,000,000 people who would move to Europe and the US given the chance. The disparity of lifestyles and opportunities are simply too great to pass up.

By: logicus

logicus — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 02:07:09 +0000

Relying on immigration for prosperity is a ponzi approach that can’t go on forever.

By: absinthe

absinthe — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:14:34 +0000

Yikes. Immigration creates winners and losers. So does capitalism. Just because it’s long-run net beneficial doesn’t mean it’s economically simple, unless you think fairness has no place in economics. What a horrible premise.