Amog the blogs I read most often, a lot of last week's energy was focused on the immigration debate still playing itself out in Congress. A fair amount of activity was instigated by a column from Paul Kruman, helpfully summarized at Economist's View, where you will also find a link to the research Krugman cites in support of the assertion that immigration (from Mexico specifically) has not been any great-shakes deal for the United States. In particular,
Not surprising (to me), economists generally align themsleves with the free movement of labor, even if disagreeing on some of the details. Brad DeLong thinks " tight restrictions on immigration are a really lousy anti-poverty policy." (DeLong's comments are motivated by an earlier column by Paul Krugman. Mark Thoma helpfully links to the research Krugman cites.) Kash suggests that their are potential (though hard to measure) gains from diversity. Befitting a pro-growth liberal, pgl at Angry Bear kicked the week off with a generally pro-immigration post. That, of course, is a different thing than supporting the present immigration bill, and pgl links approvingly to Kevin Drum's doubts about the proposed guest worker program (as opposed to one emphasizing permanent residence).