Unintended consequences

Same-sex marriage
New Atlas reports about an effect in the US of European nations legally recognizing same-sex marriages:
Same-sex marriage recognition means 
highly skilled workers avoided US

The recognition of same-sex marriage across the European Union has had a negative impact on the US economy, causing the number of highly skilled foreign workers seeking visas to drop by about 21%, according to a new study.

The list of countries that legally perform and recognize same-sex marriage now stands at 36 and continues to grow. Despite fears that same-sex marriage would undermine the institution of different-sex marriage, research has shown that, after 20 years, those fears were unfounded. Indeed, same-sex marriage has consistently been found to be positive for couples, their children, and the general population.

Now, a new study by researchers from Washington State University (WSU) has found that marriage equality also has a major economic benefit.

“This [study] just shows that having more inclusive policies can make a country more attractive for skilled labor,” said Koroles Awad, a PhD candidate in economics at WSU and the study’s lead author.
Dang! Who would have thunk it? Now, what if the US supreme court gets rid of same-sex marriage rights in the US? Hm.


US foreign policy
A WaPo article (not paywalled) discusses a bad impact of US foreign policy in Venezuela, even though the US was warned that the bad effect was likely to happen:
Trump White House was warned sanctions on 
Venezuela could fuel migration

The internal debate over the policy underscores how U.S. financial measures can sometimes lead to unintended consequences

The Trump White House was warned that harsh sanctions on Venezuela could accelerate that country’s economic collapse and speed an exodus of millions of migrants to neighboring nations, according to three current and former U.S. government officials.

The Trump administration nevertheless imposed some of the harshest economic penalties in U.S. history on Venezuela in response to documented human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings and corruption by the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Today, however, Maduro remains in power, and a surge in Venezuelan immigrants has emerged as a flash point in the U.S. presidential election. Though Venezuelan mass migration to the United States only began after President Biden took office, concern among Trump officials about the sanctions’ potential effects, including on migration, was more extensive than previously known, according to interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. officials.  
“This is the point I made at the time: I said the sanctions were going to grind the Venezuelan economy into dust and have huge human consequences, one of which would be out-migration,” said Thomas Shannon, who served as undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department under President Donald Trump.

“The sanctions clearly helped generate faster out-migration,” Shannon said. “And you knew it was only going to be a matter of time before these people decided to migrate north.”



Wouldn't it be a total hoot if DJT's foreign policy toward Venezuela and resulting illegal immigration into the US turns out to be a necessary factor in getting DJT re-elected in 2024? Total hoot! 
😳


Q: Does that make DJT a supporter of illegal immigration?


By Germaine: Supporter of the Murphy's Law Foundation


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