Immigrants should be valued as job makers

Quickly now, here is an article from The Kansan arguing that diaspora people actually create jobs and boost local economies. Fascinating stuff.

Onions: Immigrants should be valued as job makers | Kansan.com: "When 64% of Indian students and 68% of Chinese students educated in the U.S. hope to start a business within the next decade, we should be capitalizing on the chance to jumpstart the economy and put Americans to work. We should be finding ways to increase visas for entrepreneurs and innovators, removing barriers to access, and creating environments that welcome the best talent in the world, regardless of origin."

Some Quick Diaspora Snippets (Including Indian)

I enjoyed hanging out with some new and old friends this past weekend where I also had the opportunity to speak twice on issues related to things like contextualization, diaspora, and more.  I was, however, asked a couple questions about the Indian diaspora which I wasn't fully able to answer.  That has prompted today's post.  So, today, I refer those who are interested to an article that appeared in Economist several months ago entitled "The Magic of Diasporas".

If you don't have time to read the whole thing (which is worth your time, by the way), here are a few nuggets for you:

• The global Indian diaspora consists of 22 million first-generation immigrants.
• Economist now says that the total number of first-generation migrants is 215 million (up about a million from the number many missiologists have been using).
• The article argues that the phenomenon of "diaspora networks" actually has the effect of boosting the economies of rich countries that have "loose" immigration policies.   

Migration: The future of mobility | The Economist

Fascinating look at diaspora from an economic perspective...

Migration: The future of mobility | The Economist: "If rich countries were to admit enough migrants from poor countries to expand their own labour forces by a mere 3%, the world would be richer, according to one estimate, by $356 billion a year. Completely opening borders would add an astonishing $39 trillion over 25 years to the global economy. That is more than 500 times the amount the rich world spends on foreign aid each year. Migration is the most effective tool yet devised for reducing global poverty."