OPINION
using a variety of methods,
have shown that the bogey of
"displacement" of natives
does not exist. New entrants
not only take jobs, they make
jobs. And the jobs they create
with their purchasing power,
and with the new businesses
they start, are at least at
numerous as the jobs im-
migrants fill. There is every
reason to believe that the
analysis applies to Israel, too.
• Immigrants do not exploit
others by over-using welfare
services. Immigrants typical-
ly arrive when they are young
and healthy. Hence, new im-
migrant families tend to use
fewer welfare services than do
average native families that
receive expensive aid for their
aged. And immigrant
families pay more taxes than
do average native families,
because more of them are
working. Therefore, im-
migrants contribute more to
the public coffers in taxes
than they draw out in welfare
services.
• Immigrants demonstrate
desirable economic traits.
Compared to natives, im-
migrants work more hours
per week, save more and have
higher rates of participation
in the labor force. Fully 60 or
70 percent of the new Soviet
immigrants are in the labor
force, compared to 48 percent
of the Israeli public.
Part of this huge difference
is due to the age structure.
But the immigrants also have
a high job-seeking propensity,
especially among women.
• The Soviet immigrants
are not difficult to absorb.
Within two months, 66 per-
cent of the immigrants who
sought jobs found jobs. Within
one year of arrival, 90 percent
were employed. This belies
the common belief that the
Soviets take a long time to
get sufficiently acquainted
with the Israeli system before
finding a job, or that their ex-
pertise is in areas that make
them largely unemployable,
such as professors of Soviet
literature who cannot learn
how to do anything else.
• Immigrants increase the
productivity of the economy.
Immigrants increase the total
size of the economy. This in-
creases productivity through
economies of scale. Some
public facilities such as
transportation infrastructure
can be used more efficiently
with a larger population.
Very important is learning by
doing; as enterprises produce
more, they learn how to pro-
duce more efficiently.
Immigrants contribute im-
portant new productivity-
enhancing ideas to industry
and science. Newcomers also
increase economic flexibility,
because they are unusually
mobile both geographically
and occupationally.
Adding up the various
elements year-by-year to pro-
duce an over-all cost-benefit
assessment, we find that the
immigrant family's undis-
counted net balance with the
veteran population is positive
by the end of the third year,
becoming very large and
positive in successive years.
In other words, the "pay-back
period" on the veterans' "in-
vestment" in immigrants is
less than three years.
In investment terms, the
"rate of return" on the invest-
ment in Soviet immigrants is
a staggering 80 percent an-
nually, which suggests that
Israel's economy could give
the olim about six times the
sums now given and still ob-
tain a rate of return of 15 per-
cent a year. That's a pro-
fitable investment for anyone,
any time, anywhere.
The bottom line is Israelis
have every reason to cheer
the immigrants from the
Soviet Union, not only out of
Jewish love and the pleasure
of having them safe, but also
for their own economic self-
interest.
CONTENTS
Iliadition Of •
Blue Marbles
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Detroit's Sephardim struggle
to retain their heritage.
BOOKS
Taking On Kahane
T
o say that President
George Bush does not
like Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir is
an understatement, accor-
ding to insiders in Washing-
ton and Israel.
At the Council of Jewish
Federations quarterly
meetings in New York last
week, a Jewish lobbyist in
Washington addressing the
group said that Mr. Bush
"despises" Mr. Shamir. No
one seemed to disagree with
❑
57
SPORTS
28 Mr. Hockey
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Sam Greenblatt is cited
for two decades of service.
81
ENTERTAINMENT
Pointed Goals
WENDY ROLLIN
A 14-year-old ballerina
has experience and talent.
109
FICTION
Art Of Lying
ALAN H. FEILER
Author Hirsh Goldberg
has a penchant for falsehoods.
113
AROUND TOWN
613th Mitzvah
A special celebration marks
completion of a new Torah.
SINGLE LIFE
❑
the assessment. And an
Israeli journalist says that
Mr. Bush, in private
meetings, uses a 10-letter
vulgarity to refer to the
Israeli prime minister.
Though the relationship
between Washington and
Jerusalem has thawed a bit
because of the Persian Gulf
crisis, Jewish leaders are
concerned over Mr. Bush's
dislike of Mr. Shamir. They
note that the president relies
heavily in his foreign policy
views on his personal rela-
tionships with world
leaders.
46
JAMES BESSER
Robert Friedman's book
has raised a ruckus.
September Dilemma
Bush 'Despises' Shamir
STAFF REPORT
28
CLOSE-UP
124
RICHARD PEARL
What do out-of-towners
do on the High Holidays?
DEPARTMENTS
17
35
49
50
94
100
Detroit
12
Inside Washington 1 14
Community
1 15
Synagogues
1 20
Fine Arts
30
Cooking
58
On Campus
Lifestyles
Engagements
Births
Classified Ads
Obituaries
CANDLELIGHTING
109
Friday, September 14, 1990
7:27 p.m.
Sabbath ends September 15 8:26 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7