Almost every developed country is taking measures to restrict immigration— particularly from poor countries: The North Africans in France, The Turks in Germany etc. Maybe even Bulgarians in UK?

 We are in a particularly sensitive position because the US/Mexico border divides the richest country in the world from what is still a Third World country with a huge population growth.  On the one hand, segments of the US economy depend on these “illegals”; on the other hand, they are illegal.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, when the Industrial Revolution was at it height, Europe occupied almost all of what are now the poor countries. So, the poor countries were not really poor to start with, but were locked out of the process of becoming wealthy and modern.

 Well, the US was fortunate enough, as we have said, to have thrown off domination by the Europeans, and to become its own master at this critical time in shaping the world.

The Industrial Revolution

T HE COLONIAL COUNTRIES WERE EFFECTIVELY LOCKED OUT OF THE GREATEST ECONOMIC CHANGE IN HISTORY, AND BECAME PRODUCERS OF RAW MATERIALS.

The continent of Africa was not only colonized, but before that was ravaged by the slave trade, which destroyed the inidigenous economy, trade and social structure of almost the whole continent.

Goods, people and capital were all extracted from Africa for 300+ years, and so it was left ruined and without human and physical capital. It has never recovered from this. So, Africa is not intrinsically poor—it was made poor.

TThe US wants to hold on to, and even improve, its life-style TThe Rest of the World wants to live like this too—but the gap is widening.

South and Southeast Asia Britain seems to be doing better than the rest of Europe

 The basic policy of the US is that the only way for countries to improve is through:  Free Trade and Open Markets  “Comparative Advantage” allowing each country finds its place in the world: its “natural advantage”  Pursue Regional Free Trade first, as the World Trade Organization does not have the full confidence of the Administration.

 Poor countries + population growth =  Crime and instability at home (Latin America in part)  Pressure on illegal immigration into the parts of the world that are rich. Since the Developed World has a static, or declining, aging population, this need will increase, so there will be push and pull factor in immigration

 It is not in anyone’s interest for the poor to remain poor:  Poor people are a weak market  Poor people are a source of political extremism (hopeless people are that way!)  There is an historical injustice at work here anyway, so there are moral, equity, compassion and other emotional arguments

 World seems to be shaking out into 3 zones 1. Rapidly-advancing East and South Asia (China became the largest consumer of resources in 2005) 2. Uncertain, periodic growth with high risk factor (Brazil, Argentina, Russia (too dependent on oil prices) 3. “Hopeless cases” like much of Africa

 What policy should we have to each of these?  Will the rich world unite to protect their colossal advantage?  Is China a threat?  Should we find a partner to strengthen our position? (EU, FTAA?) What are the advantages of doing this?