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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

> disingenuous to blame Trump when this is what U.S. voters chose

Trump legitimately campaigned on being cruel to illegal migrants and refugees. He also campaigned on reducing immigration in general. To that extent, you are correct inasmuch as Trump's H1-B policies were promised. (MAGA wasn't subtle [1].)

Where I think we can legitimately say this is MAGA versus Republicans is in the reverse brain drain. America in the 1950s was a destination for top minds. Ameirca in the 2020s is not. Part of that is due to remote work. Part due to us not being in the wake of a world war. But part was due to an explicit policy to attract the most ambitious to America, and then to encourage them to stay.

[1] https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/wo...

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> Where I think we can legitimately say this is MAGA versus Republicans is in the reverse brain drain. America in the 1950s was a destination for top minds. Ameirca in the 2020s is not.

I do think it's counter-productive for America to make it harder for legal and talented immigrants, and we should fix that - but what's your evidence that America isn't still the world capital for the ambitious?

Statistically: The close competitors (e.g. Western Europe, Canada) are looking pretty dire economically compared to the US.

Anecdotally: I have friends from Estonia, Canada, the UK, and France that are all clamoring to be in America for the opportunity.

Historically: Post-WWII in the 1950s, 6.9% of the population was foreign-born. It's now 15.8%. So are we really more closed-off than we were then? Or is this just the response to the ever-increasing interest in immigrating because of the US being as compelling as it is?

> what's your evidence that America isn't still the world capital for the ambitious?

It's a loose hypothesis informed by e.g. this article.

I think America remains a net attractor. If you're smart and driven, you can become a multi-millionaire in America in a way that's harder almost anywhere else. But I'm saying harder. Decades prior, that was closer to impossible. Instead, we're now increasingly the economy where political connections dominate talent. (Again, we're still mostly not that. But we're shifting from the destination to one where talented people in India and China, for example, increasingly stay home.)

That's not true because no other country is even trying to take the lead, economically speaking. China is the only country that pursues innovation nearly as aggressively but they're not a desirable immigration destination. Canada and European countries are in the best position to step up, but they're not doing so other than being more welcoming than the US in accepting skilled immigrants. The economic incentives (capital markets, risk-taking, business-friendliness, talent density) haven't changed at all and if you're good at what you do, the US is still the best place in almost all cases. Enough that it's still often worth moving there despite how immigrant-hostile the country is.

> no other country is even trying to take the lead

Nobody else is brain draining, correct. But neither is America. That cedes a comparative advantage.

China’s entire battery and solar platform is built on tech invented in America. They’ve since taken the lead on truly remaking modern manufacturing. But in an alternate world, A123 stayed American.

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