Gary Becker spoke with PBS about the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily reassign inspectors away from ports of entry to focus on migrants and the implications border wait times and trade. The article reads in part:

The U.S. has for years worked to make cross-border trade more efficient by developing systems that act as a kind of TSA pre-check for commercial vehicles. But it didn’t stop 18-wheelers from being backed up Friday as far as the eye could see on the road leading to the Bridge of Americas, which connects Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.

“The longer these delays get, the bigger the economic impact can be because businesses have to make monumental decisions,” said Gary Becker, chief economist for the Washington, D.C., based consulting firm Catalyst Partners and former head economist in the Department of Homeland Security’s private sector policy office, where he focused on improving the efficiency of border crossings.

Read the full article.