Migration and Poverty
One of the issues that most activists generally avoid in policy discussions is immigration. We talk often about development aid, free trade, and debt relief, and on occasion about transparency, emergency humanitarian aid, and in very rare instances funding peace-keepers.
But immigration is one of the oldest and move proven means of fighting poverty–especially in the story of America. And considering the scale of extreme poverty we should at least consider every tool we have to fight it.
In this interview with reason magazine, Harvard economist Lant Pritchett talks about why migration can do so much to lift people out of poverty and why its such a touchy subject.
It opened my eyes a lot, yet the story it tells is all too familiar My great-great-great grandparents (or something like that) immigrated here from Ireland to escape their poverty and start a better life. Now, of course, today’s world is far more complex, but the principle of moving on to start a better life remains the dream of most people in the world.
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