Quote:
Originally Posted by topper
not sure if that is the complete answer - more I think the case of cheap money and freely available credit over the last 10 years or so . Isn't that why we appear on the edge of a economic downturn now with banks overexposed through silly lending
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No, it's not the complete answer, I agree.
However, it's an important factor, because more immigrants make the labour market more flexible. Credit was easy for everyone, the UK, France and Germany (maybe slightly easier in the UK), but the UK grew much faster.
The problem with the simplistic calculations over GDP per capita argued over in the Daily Mail and other crapsheets is that the calculation ignores spillover effects. Many jobs filled by immigrants, especially the ones that lead to most economic growth, simply wouldn't exist if there were no immigrants. And these jobs, once filled, create other jobs.