WASHINGTON, DC – More than 110 influential conservative economists released an open letter to Congressional leadership today supporting immigration reform and touting its economic and budgetary benefits for America. The letter, led by American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin, includes a who’s who of conservative luminaries: Nobel Laureate in Economics Edward Prescott, Art Laffer, Glenn Hubbard, Ed Lazear, Larry Lindsey, June O’Neill, George Schultz and more.

The letter, signed by 111 economists, expresses support for broad-based immigration reform including a visa system that reflects America’s economic policy objectives. The signees look forward to a reformed and efficient legal immigration system that moves toward promoting economic growth over other objectives. As the letter states, the signees “believe a reformed and efficient immigration system can promote economic growth and ease the challenge of reforming unsustainable federal health and retirement programs.”

The letter was sent to Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The 111 signees include:

Douglas Holtz-Eakin; President, American Action Forum; Former Director, Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

R. Glenn Hubbard; Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School; Former Chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)

Arthur B. Laffer, Chairman, Laffer Associates; First Chief Economist, Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Former Member, Economic Policy Advisory Board

Edward Lazear, Former Chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA); Jack Steele Parker Professor of Human Resources Management and Economics, Stanford University; Morris Arnold Cox Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

Lawrence B. Lindsey; Chief Executive Officer of the Lindsey Group; Former Director of the National Economic Council; Former Assistant to the President on Economic Policy

 

June O’Neill; Former Director, Congressional Budget Office (CBO); Wollman Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for the Study of Business and Government, Baruch College

Edward C. Prescott; W.P. Carey Chaired Professor of Economics, Arizona State University; Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; Nobel Laureate in Economics

Harvey S. Rosen; John L. Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy, Princeton University; Former Chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)

John B. Taylor; Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics, Stanford University;

George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics, Hoover Institution; Former Under Secretary for International Affairs, Department of the Treasury

See the full list of signees here.

Read the complete letter below or by clicking here [PDF]:

May 23, 2013

 

Dear Speaker Boehner, Minority Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, and Minority Leader McConnell:

 

Immigration reform is an opportunity to improve the Nation’s security, address domestic safety and crime, and remove legal clouds from employers and undocumented residents alike.  As well, it is an opportunity to improve the long-term prospects for economic growth, enhance the skills of the U.S. labor force, and augment the flexibility of the Nation’s labor market. 

 

Immigration reform’s positive impact on population growth, labor force growth, housing, and other markets will lead to more rapid economic growth.  This, in turn, translates into a positive impact on the federal budget.  According to the Congressional Budget Office an additional 0.1 percent in average economic growth will, over a ten-year period, reduce the federal deficit by over $300 billion. 

 

We urge you to pass a broad-based immigration reform bill that includes a U.S. visa system more attuned to economic policy objectives. We believe a reformed and efficient immigration system can promote economic growth and ease the challenge of reforming unsustainable federal health and retirement programs.

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