Greenspan wants more H-1Bs

Date: Sunday, February 17, 2008 2:49 PM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1820 -- 2/17/2008 >>>>>

Alan Greenspan wants to open the immigration flood gates in order to allow
more H-1Bs to work in the U.S. He feels this will help companies avoid
recession by increasing "income equality", which is of course just a Greenspan
code word for "cutting salaries".

"Significantly opening up immigration to skilled workers solves
two problems," he said. The companies could hire the educated
workers they need. And those workers would compete with
high-income people, driving more income equality, he said.

The following article was published in the Dallas News, but it's appearing in
newspapers across the USA.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021508dnbusgreenspan.c1d69e5d.html

Greenspan: U.S. economy on edge of recession

08:58 PM CST on Thursday, February 14, 2008

By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News esouder@dallasnews.com

HOUSTON - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. is on
the edge of recession.

The mortgage crisis and high energy prices are weighing on the economy. And if
Congress caps carbon dioxide emissions, that could make things worse.

"I think we're clearly on the edge," Mr. Greenspan said at the Cambridge
Energy Research Associates annual conference. The chance of a recession is "50
percent or better."

One thing the country could do to improve things is to allow more immigration
of skilled workers.

"Significantly opening up immigration to skilled workers solves two problems,"
he said. The companies could hire the educated workers they need. And those
workers would compete with high-income people, driving more income equality,
he said.

Mr. Greenspan said the country would already be in a recession if companies
weren't in such good financial shape before the mortgage crisis hit. Most
companies don't have much need for credit, and haven't been hit hard by the
credit squeeze.

But he expects the mortgage problem to persist until housing prices stabilize.
And that won't likely happen until the inventory of new homes dries up.

"I think we have a long way to go," he said.

Mr. Greenspan said the country isn't facing stagflation just now, or the
combination of inflation and a declining economy.

Still, he said, rising oil prices are a burden, particularly in parts of the
world that use energy less efficiently than the U.S. economy. Here, U.S.
companies are having to spend more money on energy efficiency programs,
diverting money from other things.

Capping the amount of greenhouse gases the country may emit could make things
more difficult he said, even though climate change is real. The cap that
Congress is considering could lower economic activity and cause unemployment,
he said.

"I don't think there's been enough discussion about what we mean by cap,"
he said. "There's a presumption, well, we'll solve every problem by new
technology. I wish that were true."

One technology that Mr. Greenspan endorses to address climate change is
nuclear power. Nuclear plants don't emit carbon dioxide when operating, though
Mr. Greenspan acknowledged concern about storing nuclear waste safely.

When asked what type of fuel the power generation companies should use, Mr.
Greenspan said: "Oh, simple. They're going to have to use nuclear."

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