At the skill levels Bill is talking about, wage differentials of the between "visitors" and citizens are not sustainable. We are not talking about illegal Mexican immigrants who mow the lawn in summer and shovel the driveway in winter.
> Now what fascinates me Sujeet, is how you appear to believe, without a
> hint of doubt, that Gates is telling the truth. This implies that as you
> see it, his opponents, who only perceive the usual, narrow interests of
> capital at work, are totally wrong.
>
> But since we really only have Gate's claims as our guide here where's
> this certainty coming from?
>
> Do you know for a fact that there is truly a shortage in the US of the
> sort of "exceptional talent" Gates says he needs?
>
> If so, how do you know this?
>
I don't know this. I am hearing Bill say it. I am hearing Craig
Barrett of Intel say it - he is awfully worried about his
grandchildren, among other things. The following might be relevant in
this context:
" Compete America, a coalition of over 200 corporations, universities, research institutions and trade associations – of which Microsoft is a member – has been lobbying the US Congress to raise the annual cap. The introduction of a provision for 20,000 cap exempt visas for foreign nationals, with master's and PhD degrees from US universities in the 2005 Appropriations Act was largely a result of their lobbying."
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1093499.cms
Maybe all of them are lying through their teeth, and all they want is cheap foreign labor flooding the US job market. This, however, appears to me to be far too lazy a hypothesis, even from a purely methodological perspective.
Bottom line: we can't just dismiss Bill as a liar. There is something in what he (and others) are saying. A rigorous examination of their claims may be worthwhile.
Sujeet