The immigration reform debate should turn in earnest to Adam Ozimek’s proposal for regional visas, which you can see at this link.

Here is a slightly tidied up version of what I had to say about his proposal when I appeared on Huffpost Live:

The United States is like a college that has everyone wanting to get in. We ought to be able to do something with that. Let me give you just one idea. I love Adam Ozimek’s idea of region-based visas. If you let states and cities and towns apply for visas for people, then you require people to buy a house and get a job in that area, then we can let the different areas decide how many immigrants to bring in. Some places don’t think they can handle immigrants, and some places think they can. I’ll tell you what will happen: those places that let in lots of immigrants will have the dynamic local economies, and pretty soon people will see just how much immigrants bring to the economy. But you don’t have to believe me. Just allow these region-based visas, and then the states and localities that are willing to try it will show the way, and show how much immigrants add to our economy.

Postscript: See my earlier post about that appearance on HuffPost Live, “Miles on Huffpost Live: The Wrong Debate and How to Change It” for the rest of what I said. In particular, I was able to make a pitch for electronic money. Here is the video itself, including also commentary by Robert Kuttner, Dan Gross, Zach Carter and Stephanie Kelton.