Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

H-1B Visas, Cultural Failures, Weapons of Economic War

H-1B Visas, Cultural Failures, Weapons of Economic War

Illustrative picture showing application for USA H1B visa

Getty Images//Stock Photo

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy both came out recently in favor of expanding the H-1B visa program. This program allows large corporations to claim they cannot find adequate skilled talent (engineers for example) and sponsor a foreign worker to enter the United States to fill the required role.

The program itself is rife with abuse and inevitably and negatively affects American citizens by adding to the supply of talent and inevitably decreasing the price of such talent (wages).


Some disagree with Musk and Ramaswamy. Many identify as MAGA and argue that it is counter to Trump's desire to limit immigration. Yet Trump himself has said he supports the H-1B program. He has also recently said that foreign students graduating from American universities should automatically qualify for a Green Card (permanent residency). This would allow them to work without needing a visa and put them on the path to naturalized citizenship.

Ramaswamy included commentary on American cultural failings in not producing enough home-grown talent. Musk used a sports metaphor to argue that bringing in foreign talent was necessary to keep the U.S. on top economically. While these arguments have elements of truth, they also fail to consider some key points.

For some context on this opinion, I wrote early in 2024 that we should stop all immigration for an extended period, including H-1B visas, while we fixed the mess we were currently in, and have a national debate about how immigration should be handled going forward. I stand by that opinion, as well as my suggestion for a kinder and gentler mass deportation. While I am pro-immigrant, I believe these steps are necessary for a cultural and policy reset. As beneficial as immigration has been to our shared history, our current policy is polarizing us from many directions while failing to make America better.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Ramaswamy’s commentary on cultural failings is not wrong though they could also be defined as educational shortcomings. That is on us as parents (and grandparents), and our political and business leaders to fix. The H-1B program not only ignores those problems but gives us a seemingly cheap way out to avoid fixing them.

I have low expectations that politicians or our universities will fix this problem. However, I have high expectations that big business could fix the problem if the H-1B program were unavailable. Simplistically speaking, they could hire young technology interns, give them on-the-job training, sponsor their advanced education, and meritoriously promote and pay the best.

Musk meanwhile decided to clarify his position, stating that he only wanted to bring in the top 0.1% of talent from foreign countries. However, these arguments assume that economics is a zero-sum competition between nations. In his world, H-1B becomes a weapon of economic war in our effort to stay on top.

Essentially, Musk is suggesting we use H-1B not just to advance our economy but to debilitate other countries in their effort to advance their economies. And in doing so we inevitably hurt ourselves.

What happens when other nations (especially so-called third-world nations) advance economically and educationally? Does it cause us damage? On the contrary, in a free trade environment, when other nations become stronger economically, they become bigger markets for American-made goods and services. They also provide quality, cost-effective goods and services to Americans. And robust economies create a more cooperative and peaceful world. Buying and selling with each other is more advantageous than waging actual war.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a died-in-the-wool capitalist (actually a “free-marketist” but that is a subject for another day). I believe competition between market participants is good. And yes, it often results in creative destruction when some firms fail while others are born. But the competition should be among those market participants and not among nations.

Let’s not wage economic warfare to paper over our internal problems. Put the H-1B program on ice and fix those problems instead.

David Butler is a husband, father, grandfather, business executive, entrepreneur, and political observer.

Read More

Could Splits Within the GOP Over Economic Policy Hurt the Trump Administration?

With Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) by his side President Donald Trump speaks to the press following a House Republican meeting at the U.S. Capitol on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Tasos Katopodis

Could Splits Within the GOP Over Economic Policy Hurt the Trump Administration?

Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri is an unusual combo of right and left politics—kind of like an elephant combined with a donkey combined with a polar bear. And, yet, his views may augur the future of the Republican Party.

Many people view the Republican and Democratic parties as ideological monoliths, run by hardcore partisans and implacably positioned against each other. But, in fact, both parties have their internal divisions, influenced by various outside organizations. In the GOP, an intra-party battle is brewing between an economic populist wing with its more pro-labor positions and a traditional libertarian wing with its pro-free market stances.

Keep ReadingShow less
Just the Facts: Trump’s Middle East Trip

U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a signing ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Getty Images, Win McNamee

Just the Facts: Trump’s Middle East Trip

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

Are pro-Israel supporters of Donald Trump concerned about his recent trip to the Middle East?

Keep ReadingShow less
Man looking at stocks on his phone. Stock market.

As Trump pushes disruption, the markets push back.

Getty Images, Alistair Berg

The Markets Strike Back: Why Trump’s Economic Fantasies Keep Crashing into Reality

Trump may have won the election, but he’s losing the markets. In just 100 days, Wall Street has erased nearly $6 trillion in global equity value, according to Bloomberg data cited in The Guardian. The S&P 500 has logged one of its worst openings to a presidential term since the Nixon years. And fund managers—the real-world referees of economic confidence—are sending a message Congress seems unwilling to deliver: enough.

While Trump’s second term has been marked by a tsunami of executive orders, tariff threats, and regulatory purges, the financial markets are refusing to play along. From panicked sell-offs to jittery consumer sentiment and retreating business investment, U.S. capital is staging its own quiet rebellion. Consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level since 2020, with Americans’ outlook on jobs, income, and business conditions sinking to a 13-year low, according to The Conference Board.

Keep ReadingShow less
Business professional watching stocks go down.
Getty Images, Bartolome Ozonas

The White House Is Booming, the Boardroom Is Panicking

The Confidence Collapse

Consumer confidence is plummeting—and that was before the latest Wall Street selloffs.

Keep ReadingShow less