Who needs migrant workers? labour shortages, immigration, and public policy by Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson (eds). Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010. No. of pages: xii + 335. Price: £60.00 (hardback). ISBN 978 0 19 958059 0 (pages 693–695)

摘要

Public policy, which aimed to regulate migration,nhas had a variable history in the UK, withnswings from unquenchable demand for labour tonrhetoric proclaiming ‘British jobs for British workers’.nIn 2000, the national government claimednthat the economic benefits of accepting immigrantsnwere too great to restrict their inflow and tondo so would harm the competitiveness of the UKnin a global market. After the accession of manynCentral and Eastern European Countries in 2004nand in 2007, and in the midst of a global economicndownturn in 2008, already charged political andnpublic debates intensified. Who Needs MigrantnWorkers? Labour Shortages, Immigration, and PublicnPolicy is a compilation of work drawing onnresearch from a wide range of contributors fromndifferent social science disciplines. Written in anway that is directed at non‐academics, this booknaims to contribute to public and policy debatenover labour shortages and the role of immigrationnin fulfilling these shortages. It seeks to take as fairnand unbiased an approach as is possible givennsuch a controversial topic.