In “Three strikes and you’re in,” I endorsed the idea that what Springfield needs to make its economy perk is the entrepreneurial energy and enterprise that immigrants supply.
Catherine Rampell of the new York Times has more from a 2012 report commissioned by the Small Business Administration. According to Robert W. Fairlie, an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the business ownership rate is higher for immigrants than for the native-born, immigrants are more likely to start a business in any given month (in 2010 more than twice as likely) and more immigrant-owned companies export their goods and services than do native-owned businesses.
At least non-Americans still believe in the American dream.
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2013.
