So for the same job one would receive a different salary based on his/her country of origins ? More specifically: people coming from poor countries would receive less money for the same job compared to "natives" of the welcoming country while people from richer countries would receive more money than "natives" of poorer countries they are working in ?
It looks like a tax based on origins and (I am not american) seems to remember it is one of the founding myth of the american independance, am I wrong ?
And if the poor of one country can be incentivized to switch with the rich of another country, wouldn't that just further stratify wealth?
It's certainly debatable, but it would be my hope that it would lead to increases in opportunity for all parties.
But these are exactly the kinds of moral concerns I alluded to...
Anyone who is poor in nation A, will trade places with an up and comer in nation B.
Of course, if citizenship were an option after n years of residing and working in a country (which is the case in many places), then one would expect the market prices to change considerably...
US/UK switch? Probably basically free for both, if both are seen as equally desirable. But citizens from "less desirable" countries would pay ($30K/yr?) to have to the right to work in the US/UK. And, for example, US/UK doctors would receive money ($30K/yr?) to work in third-world countries. The rates would vary depending on each pair of countries and relative demand.
It seems abhorrent at first to ask already-poorer third-world citizens to pay money, but the $30K/yr would presumably come out of salaries paid from the first world -- so people from third-world countries would only be able to work in the US if they were making excellent money, and therefore contributing greatly to the economy. No money is actually being "taken" from the third-world. And the $30K/yr payment to doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. living abroad would provide a fantastic transfer of skills from the first world to the third world, helping to counteract "brain drain".
I'm not sure any governments would want to sign up for something like this, and it may feel rather questionable morally, but it could solve a lot of problems.