The emerging consensus among economists is that immigration provides a net benefit to a state’s economy. It increases demand and productivity, helps drive innovation and lowers prices, although there is little agreement on the size of the impact on economic growth. If this is the case, then the US economy could get a lift if President Barack Obama succeeds in enacting what could be the biggest overhaul of the nation’s immigration system since the 1980s. By helping more immigrants enter the country legally and allowing many illegal immigrants to remain, the United States could help offset a slowing birth rate and put itself in a stronger demographic position than ageing Europe, Japan and China. “Numerous industries in the United States can’t find the workers they need right now, even in a bad economy, to fill their orders and expand their production as the market demands,” said George Magnus, Senior Economic Adviser for UBS and author of the international bestseller ‘The Age of Ageing’, “boosting legal migration and legalizing existing workers could add $1.5 trillion to the US economy over the next 10 years”.