EFL Home

Baccalaureate Oral Exam 2009: Series A4-A5  

Global Migration

[...] Immigration takes many forms. The influx of Poles to Britain, of Mexicans to America, of Zimbabweans to South Africa and of Bangladeshis to the Persian Gulf has different causes and consequences in each case. But most often migration is about young, motivated, dynamic people seeking to better themselves by hard work.
History has shown that immigration encourages prosperity. Tens of millions of Europeans who made it to the New World in the 19t" and 20t" centuries improved their lot, just as the near 40 million foreign-born are doing in America today: Many migrants return home with new skills, savings, technology and bright ideas. Remittances to poor countries in 2006 were worth at least $260 billion - more, in many countries, than aid and foreign investment combined. Letting in migrants does vastly more good for the world's poor than stuffing any number of notes into Oxfam tins.
The movement of people also helps the rich world: Prosperous countries with greying workforces rely ever more on young foreigners. Indeed, advanced economies compete vigorously for outsiders' skills. Around a third of the Americans who won Nobel prizes in physics in the past seven years were born abroad. About 40% of science and engineering PhDs (doctorate holders) working in America are immigrants. Around a third of Silicon Valley companies were started by Indians and Chinese. The low-skilled are needed too, especially in farming, services and care for children and the elderly. It is no coincidence that countries that welcome immigrants - such Sweden, Ireland, America and Britain - have better economic records than those that shun them.

The Economist, January 5t" 2008, pp.8-9

Vocabulary:
A lot: (here) a person's fate
Remittance: a sum of money sent in payment for something
To stuff: to fill something with.