DALLAS FEDERAL RESERVE BANK PRESIDENT CALLS FOR MORE SKILLED IMMIGRANT WORKERS
Robert McTeer, President of the Dallas branch of the Federal Reserve Bank called upon Congress to increase the numbers of skilled immigrants admitted to the U.S. to work during a speach before the Louisiana Bankers Association. His comments came just one day after Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned that the country’s tight labor market could begin to create inflation unless the economy continues is growth and expansion. Greenspan worried that if the labor market becomes too competitive, wages could begin to increase at rates exceeding increases in worker productivity, which will lead to consumer price increases.
McTeer reflects the concerns of many connected to high-tech industries, many of which have been experiencing severe labor shortages for the past few years. Indeed, the creation of the American Workforce Competitiveness and Improvement Act of 1998 was passed largely as a result of lobbying efforts by high-tech industry. That bill provides for a temporary increase in the most common visa used by skilled foreign workers, the H-1B. The increased numbers will no longer be available after 2001, at which point we will almost certainly see a return of the conditions that led to its passage.
HOUSE IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE
HOLDS HEARING ON EMPLOYMENT VISA FRAUD
