The Magic of Diasporas

Amidst current anti immigration policies in the United States and United Kingdom the author of this article is arguing and evaluating the economic importance of immigration. The author argues that diasporas in the modern world are important to economic growth for a variety of reasons: spreading ideas, building networks between countries, allowing business flow and providing a channel for the spread of money between countries. Moreover, the author downplays the negative impacts of immigration, mainly “brain drain” and cost of welfare on the public purse, by arguing that immigrants who go abroad for education often return with capital and/or innovation and immigrants often claim less welfare than their indigenous counter parts. This article ties closely with our own discussion on the United State’s history of immigration and can be found at the link below:

http://www.economist.com/node/21538742