Brain Drain?

Without nurses and doctors from Asia and Africa, British hospitals could barely function. But is it fair for rich countries to poach talent from poor ones? Poor countries have far too few skilled workers to begin with, yet they are precisely the people whom rich countries are most likely to lure away.

It seems obvious that this “brain drain” hurts the poor. If all the best doctors and engineers move to the West, who will staff hospitals and build railways in Nigeria or Bangladesh? Simple justice requires that rich countries should stop recruiting doctors and engineers from poor ones.

Or does it?

One of the most surprising findings in modern economics is that the brain drain reduces global poverty. On balance, the outflow of talent from poor countries to rich ones is actually good for poor countries—and even more so for poor people.

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