Border Patrol

How soft your fields of green
Can whisper tales of gore
Of how we calmed the tides of war
We are young overlords
--Led Zeppelin

A follow-on issue to yesterday's missive concerns the need for immigration laws in general. Why not just drop the border fences and let people move where they want?

Open border policy is consistent with free market ideology. Countries are like sellers. They offer opportunities, infrastructure, climate, security, and other amenities. Would-be residents are like buyers. The price residents pay to access country amenities include things like taxes, having to live by certain rules/codes of conduct, and, importantly, sacrifice of some degree of freedom.

When property rights are well respected, then free movement policy provides the ultimate environment for increasing the standard of living for all. People find their best country 'fit' and become more productive in environments that help them seek their individual destinies.

Open border policies lose their effectiveness when property rights are not well respected. If a country forcibly takes portions of some residents' property and redistributes this wealth to others, then the stage is set for acquiring wealth by political means rather than by economic means. Because people have a natural preference for leisure over labor, countries that appropriate large amounts of property become magnets for would-be residents seeking wealth by political favor.

When rule of a country that practices wealth redistribution is determined by democratic vote, then residents and would-be residents naturally group into blocs, commonly termed special interest groups (SIGs), to strengthen their influence with policymakers.

Over time, the influx of those willing to sell votes for political favor poisons the productive wealth creating capacity of the country. Those with productive capacity protect their remaining wealth by getting it out of the country. Or they leave the country themselves.

Meanwhile, it is likely that some SIGs will use their political influence to create rules that limit further influx of would-be residents--in order to protect the wealth that they have acquired from further appropriation. The extent to which those laws are actually enforced likely depends on which SIGs have control of the political process at the time.

Standard of living is certain to fall for this country.

Which describes fairly well in my humble view of our immigration system today.