And Why Do Foreigners Want Dollars????
18 July 2006
Editor, The Washington Times
To the Editor:
Complaining about undocumented immigrants, Lynette Wood spews a barrage of undocumented "facts" (Letters, July 18). But her complaint about "the $20 billion-plus taken out of our economy and sent to Mexico every year" is downright silly.
Before persons living in Mexico can spend these dollars they must first convert them into pesos. Banks that exchange pesos for these dollars do so only because either they or their customers want dollars. And why does anyone want dollars? Answer: to spend or invest them in America. The $20 billion remitted annually by Mexicans living in the U.S. to their families south of the border return north as demand for American goods, services, and assets. These dollars are spent in America just as surely as they would be if the Mexicans who earn them while working in the U.S. had never sent any of their dollars to Mexico.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Washington Times
To the Editor:
Complaining about undocumented immigrants, Lynette Wood spews a barrage of undocumented "facts" (Letters, July 18). But her complaint about "the $20 billion-plus taken out of our economy and sent to Mexico every year" is downright silly.
Before persons living in Mexico can spend these dollars they must first convert them into pesos. Banks that exchange pesos for these dollars do so only because either they or their customers want dollars. And why does anyone want dollars? Answer: to spend or invest them in America. The $20 billion remitted annually by Mexicans living in the U.S. to their families south of the border return north as demand for American goods, services, and assets. These dollars are spent in America just as surely as they would be if the Mexicans who earn them while working in the U.S. had never sent any of their dollars to Mexico.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Wednesday April 18, 2007 at 3:56pm