June 13, 2014
The Washington Post had a pitch for allowing more high-skilled immigrants into the country, arguing that by allowing more foreign software engineers into the country we would create more jobs. While there may be some possible gains here, it is worth noting that the wages of stem workers have been flat since the late 1990s. (Also, it would be easier to be sympathetic to the demands of the tech industry if they had not conspired to hold down their workers’ wages.)
However it is striking that with all the efforts to bring in more immigrants to work in tech jobs no one ever talks about bringing in more immigrant doctors. The potential gains to the economy are enormous since our doctors receive far higher compensation than their counterparts in other wealthy countries. (The linked comparison understates the actual difference in physician compensation since more than 70 percent of our doctors are specialists, whereas the share in other countries is closer to 30 percent. The greater use of specialists has little obvious benefit in outcomes, it more likely indicates rent-seeking as specialists can enforce rules requiring their services for procedures for which primary care physicians are fully qualified.)
The fact that we see so much discussion of easing immigration to bring in more software engineers as immigrants and none on doctors presumably reflects the power of the tech sector in getting items on the national agenda and the power of the physicians’ lobbies in keeping items off the national agenda.
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