Immigration, Monetary Policy, and Obamacare

Immigration

As more states struggle with new nti-illegal-immigration laws, some employers are bearing the brunt of the new laws’ costs.

Research Associate David Bier comments.

“Anti-immigration advocates believe that harsh new laws will drive illegal immigrants out of the United States. They ignore the fact that the primary victim of these laws aren’t undocumented foreign workers, but business owners who are expected to verify the immigration status of each new employee. This informal deputizing of businessmen is exactly the sort of burdensome regulation and heavy–handed government intervention that conservatives rail against in every other area.”

Monetary Policy

Research Associate Matthew Melchiorre talks about mistakes the Fed is making.

“Loose central bank policy fuels artificial credit expansion—economists like Bernanke would say this is the point of his policies, but he ignores the problems that cheap money creates. Fed-induced cheap credit fuels an artificial boom—that is to say, consumers and producers have access to liquidity that they otherwise wouldn’t had the central bank not intervened. However, artificially low interest rates distort both consumption and investment from their efficient market allocation.”

Obamacare

At Bloomberg News, CEO Andrew Puzder explains how his company will suffer under Obamacare.

Senior Counsel Hans Bader comments.

“Obamacare will reduce the number of people employed in the U.S. by around 800,000, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Obamacare will raise the cost of insurance by a massive 55-85 percent in Ohio, according to one study.  It will harm life-saving medical innovation, concluded the Harvard Medical School Dean and others. It taxes medical devices and cosmetic surgery, and raises taxes starting in 2013 on investors. Obamacare also breaks many campaign promises, and increases state budget deficits.”