Gary Becker, a Nobel Prize winning economist, has come up with what on the face of it is such a simple and economically efficient idea for dealing with the problem of immigration – who to allow in and in what numbers – that I’m amazed nobody has thought of it before. What does Prof Gary Becker have to contribute to this almighty mess? Well, if you must have a cap, Prof Becker says, why not simply charge for entry, or auction the positions off? At a stroke, the arbitrary bureaucratic process of allocating visas according to centrally defined skill needs and qualifications would be removed. In its place would come a market driven system which would much more effectively allocate visas to those most likely to contribute to the UK economy. Companies with the most need would presumably be prepared to pay high. Similarly, those self paying would need to have complete confidence in their ability to earn the price of the ticket. Prof Becker’s proposals are published in a report – The Challenge of Immigration – A Radical Solution – released today by the Institute of Economic Affairs. More here and here