Quote Originally Posted by Raver View Post
The main concern I have with the economic argument is that when automation rears its ugly head, which it likely will happen some time in this century. Wouldn't immigrants become no longer necessary? Heck, even a good chunk of the native population will become obsolete as well once automation comes in. A declining population due to low birth rates would become more of a boon at that point. As for Japan, I think only time will tell of their repercussions of not allowing many immigrants will do. It will be an interesting contrast to see how Japan, a 1st world homogeneous ethno-state does economically compared to Western Europe that is seeking to become more multicultural in the long term.
It's jumping the gun to assume that automation is around the corner. For one thing, we're quickly reaching the limits of transistor miniaturization, meaning that traditional CPUs aren't going to get faster. Short of some breakthrough in new methods of computation (quantum, optical, etc..), many tasks will still be difficult or expensive to automate.

Even with some form of automation and an aging workforce, it might still be cheaper for firms to find labour overseas. They wouldn't even have to go far since a large reservoir of cheap African labour is right around the corner. That labour can stay and spend its earnings in Africa, or it can migrate to Europe and pay taxes.