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Comment by ekianjo | Hacker News Reader

This is especially laughable as a claim when you look at European countries with high immigration and at best very weak economic growth. How do they explain that?

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Correlation does not mean causation. People migrate to richer countries. Richer countries are higher on the technological frontier and therefore it's more difficult to increase their per capita productivity, and therefore have weak growth.

Which ones are that?

It's an honest question. I can't think of any. But for all I know, immigration to some Andorra/Albania/whatever has been significantly higher than emigration every year for the past ten. I can't recall reading anything with data and I'd like to know.

I cringe when i hear western european leaders talk about how their countries must accept immigration from third world countries to "save the economy" or "stabilize the social service systems". Even if these immigrants end up to be net tax payers after all the costs of feeding, housing, integrating these people... well, guess what, eventually they get old too and this circle starts over.

> well, guess what, eventually they get old too and this circle starts over.

Our economies are built on the assumption of endless growth. Those immigrants better have children above the replacement rate.

Sorry to tell you that there is a big difference between regular immigrants and refugees. A regular Immigrant to Europe usually is a net win from day one because they have been educated for free in their country of origin, while the upfront cost of raising someone in your own country with your own taxes is quite high (Kindergarten, school, university...).

>> "Even if these immigrants end up to be net tax payers after all the costs of feeding, housing, integrating these people"

So, I don't know how immigration works on your planet, but here in the real world immigrants do not get free "feeding, housing" or free anything-else. In fact a key condition in even the most open/lenient countries is that you must show proof that you can provide for yourself. Any other way would simply not make any sense, and I am always in awe at the level of confabulation needed to believe these nativist fairy tales.

Or maybe you're one of these people who mistake immigrants for refugees?

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