21st century competition

In the first half of the 20th century, great power competition often involved militaries. In the second half of the 20th century, competition shifted to trade and investment. Canada seems to be one of the first countries to understand that the 21st century will be a battle for the world. world-class talent:

Last month, Canada offered three-year work permits to holders of U.S. H-1B visas, the most common entry permit for immigrants working in high-tech fields. The program, aimed at workers laid off during Silicon Valley’s recent recession, attracted 10,000 applicants in the first 48 hours. “This is a strong demonstration of how competitive Canada is on the world stage,” said a spokesperson for the country’s immigration department.

This also reflects the frustration of immigrants who find the U.S. visa system difficult and slow. By some estimates, only about one in 10 girlfriends who register for the annual H-1B lottery get a visa.

“Canadian visas are much easier,” Girish Bandramudi, a 29-year-old software engineer from India, told me. With a job offer in the United States in hand, he looked into the possibility of getting an H-1B and applied to Canada instead. He is currently working remotely from his new home in Vancouver with AtoB, a San Francisco company that provides financial services to trucking companies.

Several factors have made immigration policy increasingly central to great power competition.

1. Rapid decline in birthrate. If immigration were not allowed, some countries would see their populations halved every generation.

2. A shift from agriculture and manufacturing to an information economy where talented human resources are particularly important.

3. Ability to work from anywhere.

This generalization also applies to competition between American states. States with high taxes and low services will increasingly lose out on business locations.

P.S. new york times This suggests that the United States is losing talent due to its overly complicated immigration system.

Most immigrants I spoke to cited the United States’ complex and unpredictable process for applying for visas and permanent residence as a reason for not choosing the United States.

number of student visa The benefits, long given to Chinese people by the United States as a springboard for promising immigrants, began to decline in 2016 as relations between the two countries deteriorated. In the first six months of 2023, the UK issued more than 100,000 study visas to Chinese nationals, and the US issued around 65,000 F1 student visas.