Economic competitiveness is a recurring theme in the current economic and political discourse. While some bemoan America’s high corporate tax rate, others praise the incentives provided by a mature and liquid financial system. What is often left out of the discussion is the role of America’s labor force. 

The United States has long been the leading destination for immigrants—both high and low skilled—and the foreign born have played an important role in this country’s cultural, economic and political life.  Foreign born engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs, for example, make significant contributions to U.S. innovation and competitiveness.  Yet current immigration policy makes it increasingly difficult for highly-skilled immigrants to enter and remain in the country.  

Held on December 2, the 2012 Mortimer Caplin Conference on the World Economy convened representatives from the academy, the government, and the private sector for a serious discussion about the true impact of current immigration provisions on American competitiveness, how proposals for high-skilled admissions can meet the needs of the U.S. economy, what effect such proposals might have on other policy goals (such as encouraging U.S. students to enter STEM fields), how those trade-offs should be managed, and the extent to which specific proposals serve national interests or instead primarily benefit particular industries or employers. 

Unlike other conferences which focus on the relative inefficiency of the legislative process for implementing structural reforms in deeply contested areas, the assembled group focused on rethinking admissions policies for the high skilled.  Are there market-based solutions, legal solutions, and/or political solutions?  Panelists discussed the efficacy of proposed reforms and paid close attention to the realities of admission screening and processing as well as to the vulnerability of programs to manipulation and fraud.