Immigrants are an engine of prosperity

This article shows how much we need immigrants, despite some peoples' fears. It also shows how the countries they move from can benefit in different ways. DP

By Michael Clemens, From News Services

Imagine telling Americans in 1900 that over the 20th century, about 60 million immigrants —- that is, 80 percent of the population at the time —- were going to come and stay in the United States. Tens of millions more were going to come for a while but not stay. Many at the time considered the country “full” and would have feared that such an enormous influx, combined with the vast financial crisis we were to experience a few decades later, would harm American prosperity.

Yet all of these things happened, and here we are today: even in the midst of new financial turmoil, still the richest nation the world has ever seen.

Throughout history, international migration has been a central force in reducing global poverty and inequality. But the recent heated political debate over immigration reform has spectacularly missed the important ways in which the international movement of people shapes the development process —- and how this process benefits everyone.

Although many Americans legitimately fear the effects of immigration on our economy, the best economic research reveals two surprising facts: It has not appreciably lowered the average American worker’s real earnings, and the impact of immigrants on funding for public services is roughly zero over their lifetimes: They contribute to the system roughly what they take out.

The Treasury secretary is working right now to make sure that American business has what it needs in the short run: functioning credit markets. But what American business needs to remain strong in the long run is energetic manual labor and brilliant, creative minds. Immigration to the U.S. will continue to be a rich source of both.

Far beyond our borders, the movement of people shapes economic development across the globe in ways that are not immediately obvious, or often discussed, but important to consider.

Also surprising is the fact that migration often creates positive spillovers in the sending countries. The Philippines, for example, sends large numbers of nurses to the United States and other countries. One result of this outward migration is that an enormous system of high-quality private nursing education has arisen in the Philippines to prepare low-income women to benefit from these opportunities. Since not all of the trained nurses leave, the Philippines today has more professional nurses per capita than richer countries like Thailand and Malaysia —- or even Great Britain.
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