Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute has just release a
policy analysis documenting the havoc that the twin legislative
scourges in Arizona – to wit, the 2007 LAWA that cracks down on
employers hiring paperless workers and SB 1070, “your
papers please” law – have wreaked on the state’s economy. He
notes:
The(se) laws have forced unauthorized immigrants out of the
state, and the regulatory mechanisms have diminished economic
growth, incentivized the creation of a larger informal economy,
created uncertainty for businesses, and depressed property values.
These effects serve as a warning to other states seeking to enact
Arizona-style immigration laws. Arizona-style laws are economically
destructive and inimical to growth.
More specifically, he traces the drastic housing bust in Arizona
to these laws -- which forced 200,000 consumers of real-estate out
of the state during an already bad housing bust. ;Those
combined forces resulted in the Phoenix area's disastrous housing
price decline. ;Only Las Vegas fared worse.
Next Up: Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina -- the other states
with the worst immigration laws.
… Read More
↧