
“No More Lotteries” Trump Pushes for Merit-Based Immigration in US - superasn
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/no-more-lotteries-donald-trump-pushes-for-merit-based-immigration-in-us-1799957?amp=1&akamai-rum=off
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wand3r
I agree with this concept although the article, the tweet and the president
really did not give any additional useful information. I think it would be a
positive thing to let us educated students stay in the country and allow
people with skills, education and qualifications into America at an
accelerated rate vs random. I suppose where I disagree with the president is
in allowing refugees into the country as well. I think a merit based lottery
system that allowed for additional humane immagration would be good

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ggm
I'm finding myself reflecting on the belief that the MIT/Harvard experience
suggests you need a curve of capability, accepting only geniuses into college
doesn't work out as well as you'd hope.

I suspect that a future immigration policy based of a belief there is a
single-line merit measure is going to have huge flaws. The more merit signals
you adopt, the more likely it is you add complexity which is net cost,
compared to a reasonably open-door policy.

The problem (I think) is that people equate economic efficiency with socially
just and equitable outcomes. The former (which is where merit is driving)
doesn't actually deliver the latter.

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innagadadavida
Canada and some European countries have a merit based immigration, it seems to
work better for them than the American system that they eschew.

Immigration should be based on supply and demand - this is an objective
measure and not based on someone’s arbitrary definition of fairness and social
equity (they are different for everyone).

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ggm
Interestingly, I am reminded from this of a labour union view that free
movement of labour is actually more about cost of labour than the workers
right to better pay. This leads to a view in statist left wing circles that
its ok NOT to have free movement of labour, to defend the value of labour in
high wage economies. I can't come at it myself, but it is almost 'two ends of
the cicle meet' left-right agreement. You call it supply and demand, they call
it exploitation of supply.

