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Anne O. Krueger
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This week, Project Syndicate catches up with Anne O. Krueger, a senior research professor at Johns Hopkins University and an emeritus professor and senior fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Development. She is a former World Bank chief economist and a former first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Project Syndicate: You’ve called for a “constructive overhaul” of the United States immigration system, including “shifting the money for a useless border wall toward improving the entire immigration application and sorting process.” Which measures should be at the top of such an agenda?

Anne O. Krueger: The simplest and most urgent measure would be to appoint more immigration judges to reduce the massive backlog, which now exceeds a million cases, compared to about 220,000 a decade ago. This would cost money, but that money could be redirected from the wall, which experts agree will not be effective.

Investing in ensuring that immigrants have decent places to stay on arrival is also important. But it is a short-term fix. Clearing the backlog of immigration cases would have a lasting impact, and should be the US government’s first priority.

Krueger recommends

We ask all our Say More contributors to tell our readers about a few books that have impressed them recently. Here are Krueger's picks:

  • Free Trade under Fire

    Free Trade under Fire

    At a time when free trade is under attack, this book clears up common misconceptions that are muddying the discussion.

From the PS Archive

From 2018
Krueger examined the seemingly endless contradictions of the Trump administration’s protectionist trade policies. Read the Long View.
 
From 2015
Krueger blamed Puerto Rico’s crisis on both the US and the island’s government. Read the commentary.

Around the web

In 2017, Krueger participated in a panel discussion on how efforts to reduce the US trade deficit could affect foreign partners and the global economy. Watch the video.

While serving as the IMF’s first deputy managing director, Krueger answered questions about the issues that occupied her during her first year on the job, from currency boards to moral hazard. Read the interview.

https://prosyn.org/kDX6z79