America Isn’t Sacrificing Its Future for ‘Cheap Labor’

Sometimes a word or two tells you everything you need to know about an argument. In the debate over globalization and immigration, there is a phrase I have been seeing with increasing frequency, mostly from right-leaning circles: “cheap labor.” It’s a sign that someone hasn’t quite thought through their argument.

Usually the reference is meant as a critique of globalization. Is it worth taking in millions of culturally different immigrants, and changing the very meaning of America — or, alternatively, sacrificing the US manufacturing base to China and elsewhere — just to reap the benefits of “cheap labor”? In a recent interview, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio stated: “The main thrust of the postwar American order of globalization has involved relying more and more on cheaper labor.”