

Work ethic of immigrants - mathattack
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/02/griswold_on_imm.html

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mathattack
I interpret it this way... People who fight to come here work hard. I'm not
sure if it is due to the difficulty of the trip scaring the lazy, or the
relative opportunity, but immigrants drive this country. The first generation
works hard. The second works smart. The third works rich. The next blows it
all. :-)

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fhwang
Oof. Please remember it is much, much easier to measure something like labor
participation rate (which is what the study actually measures) than work ethic
(which is the interpretation that the blogger is drawing out of that data). If
one group of people is working less than another, it might be because they're
lazy and shiftless. It also might be because they're in a different
environment, facing a different set of positive and negative reinforcements to
hard work.

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ck2
If you are going to stereotype and collect statistics, why make
generalizations of all nationalities?

Why not break down the "work ethic" by country of origin, age, etc.

This whole study is ridiculous. I have a feeling it's not aimed at Canadian
immigrants to the USA but instead Mexican.

If that's the case, why don't we help build up Mexican commerce by taking all
the stuff we buy/build in China and build up Mexico instead? What if Mexico
had the factories that we helped build in China? What if foxconn was in Mexico
instead of China?

ps.

 _the labor-force participation rate of the foreign-born in 2010 was 67.9
percent, compared to the native-born rate of 64.1 percent_

Isn't 3% considered a margin of error unless there is a massive amount of
data?

~~~
gm
Sorry to say it, but your comment is one of the dumbest things I've read in
HN.

You have an objection to the study because immigrants are categorized
together? Then you choose Mexican immigrants out of a hat and then assume the
study is about that specific group. On what basis? Are you saying the sources
cited in the group only care a specific subset of immigrants? Or are you
alleging that the study must only be about an immigrant group that you have
certain preconceptions about?

And that the hell does FoxConn being in Mexico have to do with American
immigrant work ethic? You are just not making any sense at all.

Get your ideas and facts straight before posting. Google is your friend for
getting facts straight. You cannot have an immigrant study reflect Canadian
immigrants because Canadian immigrants make up such a small proportion of all
immigrants.

~~~
ck2
You don't follow how if people coming here to work is seen as a problem, to
help make jobs in their country helps us?

I have a problem with anything that says all/most of any kind of people are
the same.

Immigrants are not one kind of people with one kind of mentality. Neither are
natives.

Oh and I assumed the study was about Mexican immigrants because if you
actually read the website, the study is from the Pew Hispanic Center and
specifically talks about about Texas immigration. You're welcome to your
opinion but I don't appreciate the personal attack.

~~~
gm
"People coming here to work is seen as a problem" is precisely what the
debate's about. It's not a conclusion.

And how can this be a broad generalization if it's already about immigrants?

"Immigrants are not one kind of people with one kind of mentality." Hmm ok...
But what if your data is not partitioned the way you like? Should they still
draw conclusions from dta that does not exist?

If you see the actual source PDF document, the sources cited are much more
than just Hispanic immigrants.

Oh and Hispanic means a bunch of different countries, not just Mexico. So
please don't equate "Spanish speaking" with "must be only from Mexico." Only
about half of Hispanic immigrants to the USA come from Mexico.

It's not a personal attack. I have a problem with how you wrote what you
wrote, I've written lots of dumb things myself, including my first reply to
you.

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hackermom
It should be noted that this is true only to some parts of the world, and more
specifically, true only to some nationalities and cultures of immigrants. The
situation with immigrants' and lacking work ethics is grave in most of Europe.
_Grave_.

~~~
gm
More specifically, to the USA only, if would look at the works cited in the
original work, it lists only American data sources.

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jsavimbi
So, illegal Mexicans shouldn't be on the right-wing agenda this electoral
cycle, or am I missing something?

~~~
tosseraccount
No, the article underscores that laissez-faire economic states allow illegal
immigrants to work so that's where they migrate. You do see bizarre coalitions
on immigration issues: right wing "open border" types allied with left wing
"poor starving masses" champions. That reflects the Bush/Kennedy attempt at
amnesty a few years ago. You see left wing labor advocates agreeing with right
wing "lower legal immigration rates only" types to restrict the supply of
labor and drive American wages up. You think a poor, liberal American black
guy wants cheaper labor "taking his job"? I wouldn't describe his agenda as
"right wing".

~~~
jsavimbi
Could you just tell me why Griswold's opinion on the benefits of illegal
immigrants over [African-American implied] welfare recipients as they apply to
the US economy is subject matter for Hacker News? Relevance?

Wait, don't bother. Econlib/Cato/Griswold/Koch sell kooky theories to the
unintelligent to mask their war on poor people. I don't actually take them
seriously.

