Give Us Your Geniuses: Why Seeking Smart Immigrants Is a No-Brainer

Adam Ozimek is an associate at an economics consulting firm and a blogger with Modeled Behavior. Noah Smith, a PhD Candidate in Economics at the University of Michigan, blogs at Noahpinion.

"From the very beginning, the United States has enjoyed a unique advantage held by almost no other country on the planet: the ability to attract and retain a huge number of the world's best and brightest. Before independence, for example, America was the beneficiary of perhaps the most elite immigrant group in history."

"Historical anecdotes aside, the economic benefits of HSI are clear. "Human capital" -- economist jargon for the skills and knowledge of the labor force -- is one of the key inputs of GDP. Put in more human capital, and your nation produces more. And high-skilled immigrants are bursting with human capital, like an oil field waiting to be tapped."

Read more about immigrants' contributions to science and technology in the U.S. on The Atlantic.