Robert Litan’s article in the March 8th WSJ, Visas for the Next Sergey Brin, makes a good point: “to create more jobs, let’s import employers.? Given the anti-job, anti-capital stance of the Obama administration, our 9+% stated unemployment rate will by administration forecasts not fall to the 5% area for at least another decade. As we are well aware the true rate is over 15% when the “given-ups” and underemployed are taken into account. And Obama has no intent to decrease the size of the socialist state or reform the ever expanding, deficit producing welfare programs.
So what do we need? We need wealth, capital willing to take risks and create jobs in the process. We need entrepreneurs to translate that risk capital into successful businesses and create jobs in the process. Thus the article’s title character: Sergey Brin the Soviet-born American who founded Google!
Litan treats the “Startup Visa Act” jointly introduced by Senators Kerry and Lugar which would create a new, two-year visa for immigrant entrepreneurs who attract at least $250,000 venture financing in America. The visa would become permanent if the firm adds at least five non-family employees, attracts $1M in financing, or earns $1M in revenue. Fully 25% of the technology companies in the U.S. were founded by immigrants.
The idea is a good one but as the article points out could use some improvement. Why set such a high capital raising bar? A lot of tech companies were started with family money and credit card debt! And why limit the capital to U.S. sources? Don’t we want foreign investment that creates U.S. jobs? Finally isn’t immigration that brings mere wealth to the country beneficial to job creation? So why not issue visas based on permanent residence and at least $5M of new capital invested in U.S. businesses?
The H-1B visas–applicable to high skilled immigrants–are strictly limited, 65,000 in 2010 down from 195,000 in 2003. Tech firms have long complained about this limitation. As the article points out these visas are a likely source of the entrepreneurs that will start the next Google.
Intelligent immigration policy can create jobs, improved technology, capital, and favorable demographic patterns to boot. Hopefully Obama’s union bosses won’t object!
Tom Motherway