Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them

Based on article from The Economist, 13 January 2007

In his new book, Philippe Legrain defends the free movement of labour in the world. He argues that both sending and receiving countries can gain from huge economic beneifts as a result of these immigrants - "Immigrants are not an invading army", rather they come in search for a better life.

Legrain confidently makes use of solid evidence to reveal common economic arguments used against immigration and not just in the case of skilled migrants but also in the case of unskilled migrants. Legrain strides to show how common misconceptions such as immigrants driving down wages and putting poorer native workers out of work are wrong.

However, his book falters slightly in his idea that immigrants should be encouraged to stay in the country temporarily - if such immigrants are in search of a better life, surely they would stay in a country such as Britain, which has a far better health care system, law and order and less corruption.

Economics alone cannot explain the hostility towards immigration. Racism and xenophobia are partly to blame for such opposition. In the case of the mass influx of Poles after accession into the EU in May 2004, there was not so much of a public outcry, arguably due to the fact that Poles look similar to most British people. In the case of Muslim immigrants in this world of heightened tensions over terrorism fears, immigration is met with far more resentment.

But on the basis of economics alone, Legrain builds a fairly strong case for why governments should open up their borders to the free movement of labour.

Links:
Waves of Fear - The Economist