Hi Karen, Thanks for posting "The New Diaspora" by Moisés Naím. That was most interesting. I was aware of some of the positive economic side-effects but I hadn't realised how significant they already were.
Keith By Moisés NaímAt 07:45 03/08/02 -0700, you wrote: >Foreign Policy online addresses the "brain drain" vs "brain gain" changes in >immigration but also why newer immigrants perhaps do not assimilate as >previous generations did into their host environment. - Karen >The New Diaspora: New links between emigres and their home countries can >become a powerful force for economic development. >By Moises Naim @ <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_julyaug_2002/missing_links.html> >Lucio Garcia, a gardener in Merrifield, Virginia, speaks daily to his family >in a remote town in Bolivia using a prepaid phone card that costs him a few >cents a minute. Eddie Baron Levi, a Mexican Congressman, commutes weekly >from Mexico City to Los Angeles, where he and his constituents reside. Iqbal >Farouqi, a Pakistani waiter working in Milan, has used the money he earns to >purchase two small trucks in Karachi that he rents to relatives and manages >through the Internet. >This is not your parents' diaspora. Globalization has greatly expanded the >means through which people in one country can remain actively involved in >another country's cultural, economic, and political life. In fact, money >transfers, travel and communications, networks and associations of nationals >living abroad, and other new or improved opportunities for expatriates to >"live" in one country even as they reside in another may be creating a >powerful tool for development. >Moreover, the deregulation of international financial markets coupled with >new technologies has made sending money back home easier and cheaper than >ever. Last year, people residing abroad sent home more than $100 billion. >For many families, the money sent by family members overseas spells the >difference between relative poverty and total indigence. That goes for many >countries, too. Worker remittances account for 24 percent of Nicaragua's >gross domestic product, 19.6 percent of India's, and 6.5 percent of >Morocco's. In Mexico, remittances are the third largest source of foreign >exchange after oil exports and tourism. And in Turkey, they are four times >larger than the country's inflows of foreign direct investment. In most >developing countries, remittances are far larger than funds received through >official development assistance or foreign portfolio investment. In fact, >many expatriate communities routinely organize events to raise money for >projects in their home countries. > >But the impact of these economic ties goes well beyond supporting individual >relatives or helping rebuild the local school. For example, surveys show >that about 10 percent of Hispanic immigrants in the United States also trade >with their home countries. In fact, the engagement of immigrants in >international trade can have a significant economic impact. As James E. >Rauch writes in the December 2001 Journal of Economic Literature, over time >"a 10 percent increase in immigrants to the United States will increase U.S. >exports to the country of origin by 4.7 percent and U.S. imports from the >country of origin by 8.3 percent." Rauch also reports that in Canada a 10 >percent increase in immigrants from a given country eventually increases >Canadian exports to that country by 1.3 percent and imports from there by >3.3 percent. >Good morning, Keith, >Anecdotally, this jibes with my own observations. During the course of a >day's interaction with professionals in the US (say, Philadelphia, >Pennsylvania, and Durham, North Carolina) I is not uncommon to run into >15-20 percent foreign-born, based on accent. The interesting thing is that >it is not evident whether they have become American citizens or not - and >the even more interesting thing is that no one cares about this. Perhaps >that is why America is the destination of choice for so many of what we >could call the world's well-educated 'mobility.' > >Cheers, >Lawry > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Keith Hudson >Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2002 3:04 AM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Educational subsidy to US > >For those who are interested in the extent to which the developed countries >are being subsidised by the immigration of qualified people from Third >World the following link has plenty of data: > ><http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1999/06/carringt.htm> > >The US receives somewhat more than half of the total brain drain. > >Keith Hudson > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
