{"product_id":"we-wanted-workers-george-j-borjas-9780393249019","title":"We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe are a nation of immigrants, and we have always been concerned about immigration. As early as 1645, the Massachusetts Bay Colony began to prohibit the entry of \"paupers.\" Today, however, the notion that immigration is universally beneficial has become pervasive. To many modern economists, immigrants are a trove of much-needed workers who can fill predetermined slots along the proverbial assembly line.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut this view of immigration's impact is overly simplified, explains George J. Borjas, a Cuban-American, Harvard labor economist. Immigrants are more than just workers--they're people who have lives outside of the factory gates and who may or may not fit the ideal of the country to which they've come to live and work. Like the rest of us, they're protected by social insurance programs, and the choices they make are affected by their social environments.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eWe Wanted Workers\u003c\/em\u003e, Borjas pulls back the curtain of political bluster to show that, in the grand scheme, immigration has not affected the average American all that much. But it has created winners and losers. The losers tend to be nonmigrant workers who compete for the same jobs as immigrants. And somebody's lower wage is somebody else's higher profit, so those who employ immigrants benefit handsomely. In the end, immigration is mainly just another government redistribution program.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I am an immigrant,\" writes Borjas, \"and yet I do not buy into the notion that immigration is universally beneficial...But I still feel that it is a good thing to give some of the poor and huddled masses, people who face so many hardships, a chance to experience the incredible opportunities that our exceptional country has to offer.\" Whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent, \u003cem\u003eWe Wanted Workers\u003c\/em\u003e is essential reading for anyone interested in the issue of immigration in America today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e George J. Borjas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0393249018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780393249019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/01\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.40h x 6.20w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/20\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2016","brand":"George J. Borjas","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48241042718975,"sku":"9780393249019","price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a0d6c8ff-4e39-4b67-b890-867bdecc171d.jpg?v=1772652495","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/we-wanted-workers-george-j-borjas-9780393249019","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}