The Accelerating Decline in America's High-Skilled Workforce ─ Implications for Immigration Policy

While America boasted the most highly-skilled workforce in the global economy earlier in the 20th century, today's Americans entering the workforce "barely make the global top ten," Kirkegaard asserts. New education policies can improve the stature of the American workforce over the long-term, but a substantial overhaul of the country's high-skilled immigration programs is essential for the country to re-claim its global dominance in the short to medium term. The author recommends numerous changes in the U.S. high-skilled immigration system that would make it more attractive, and less difficult, for foreign high-skilled employees to remain in the country after their temporary visas end. Currently affiliated with the Peterson Institute for International Economics (Washington, D.C.), Kirkegaard has also worked with the Danish Ministry of Defense, the United Nations in Iraq, and in the private financial sector. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow, has been associated with the Institute since 2002. Before joining the Institute, he worked with the Danish Ministry of Defense, the United Nations in Iraq, and in the private financial sector. He is a graduate of the Danish Army's Special School of Intelligence and Linguistics with the rank of first lieutenant; the University of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark; the Columbia University in New York; and received his Ph.D from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. He is coeditor of Transatlantic Economic Challenges in an Era of Growing Multipolarity (2012), coauthor of US Pension Reform: Lessons from Other Countries (2009) and Transforming the European Economy (2004), and assisted with Accelerating the Globalization of America: The Role for Information Technology (2006).