In Let Their People Come, Lant Pritchett discusses five "irresistible forces" of global labor migration, and the "immovable ideas" that form a political backlash against it. Increasing wage gaps, different demographic futures, "everything but labor" globalization, and the continued employment growth in low skilled, labor intensive industries all contribute to the forces compelling labor to migrate across national borders. Pritchett analyzes the fifth irresistible force of "ghosts and zombies," or the rapid and massive shifts in desired populations of countries, and says that this aspect has been neglected in the discussion of global labor mobility. Let Their People Come provides six policy recommendations for unskilled immigration policy that seek to reconcile the irresistible force of migration with the immovable ideas in rich countries that keep this force in check. In clear, accessible prose, this volume explores ways to regulate migration flows so that they are a benefit to both the global North and global South.
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"A provocative contribution in an area where provocation is needed." -- Mary Robinson, Ethical Globalization Initiative
"Simply a very good read." -- L. Alan Winters, Development Research Group, The World Bank
"Simply a very good read." -- L. Alan Winters, Development Research Group, The World Bank
About the Author
Lant Pritchett is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Global Development and is a lead socioeconomist with the World Bank, based in New Delhi, India. From 2000 to 2004 he was lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has published over fifty journal articles and papers on a range of topics including labor mobility, education, economic growth, poverty, health, safety net programs, population issues, and international trade.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a great effort by Lant Pritchett. "Let Their People Come" deconstructs the very thorny issue of immigration. He explains the both the pressures for increased "labor mobility", his name for migration, and the "immovable ideas" against it from the developed world and he does so with entertaining and insight-filled writing. He makes a very good case for allowing more unskilled labor mobility. That more mobility would be the best way to improve the live of those who live in the less developed countries at the lowest cost to the residents of wealthy countries. I am a fairly avid reader of books about immigration and found his book to be filled with new information and insights about the opportunities and obstacles related to the topic of immigration.
Pritchett concludes that the only politically viable way to increase labor mobility is to implement new guest worker programs. It is easy to disagree with his conclusions, as we do at Radical Immigration, but his presentation of the realities of the immigration debate and the politics of the debate make this a must read for anyone interested in understanding this complex issue.
In his explanation of the "immovable ideas" resisting increased labor mobility he immediately confront the real cause of the resistance. "The ultimate reason that there is not massively more mobility of labor across national borders ... is that the citizens of rich countries do not want it." He then construct the framework of an international guest worker program that would help, in his opinion, overcome this objection.
This is very good, very readable, book that takes an honest look at a difficult subject and proposes a solution.
Pritchett concludes that the only politically viable way to increase labor mobility is to implement new guest worker programs. It is easy to disagree with his conclusions, as we do at Radical Immigration, but his presentation of the realities of the immigration debate and the politics of the debate make this a must read for anyone interested in understanding this complex issue.
In his explanation of the "immovable ideas" resisting increased labor mobility he immediately confront the real cause of the resistance. "The ultimate reason that there is not massively more mobility of labor across national borders ... is that the citizens of rich countries do not want it." He then construct the framework of an international guest worker program that would help, in his opinion, overcome this objection.
This is very good, very readable, book that takes an honest look at a difficult subject and proposes a solution.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is primarily written for economists and academics in related fields, but most of it can be understood by an average person.
I was a little hesitant to read this book because I suspected it would do little more than reinforce my existing beliefs. There were certainly parts of the book that I would have been better off skipping for that reason.
But one important effect of the book was to convince me that the effects on the poor of migration to wealthier countries is so large compared to things like "foreign aid" and free trade that anyone trying to help the poor by influencing government policies shouldn't spend any time thinking about how to improve "foreign aid" or trade barriers.
I've long been wondering how to respond to remarks such as Jimmy Carter's 'We are the stingiest nation of all' based the U.S.'s low "foreign aid" to GDP ratio. Pointing out that "foreign aid" is mostly wasted or even harmful requires too much analysis of lots of not-too-strong evidence. Pritchett shows that the wealth affects of allowing the poor to work in rich countries should dominate any measure of how those rich countries treat the poor. By that measure, adjusting for country size, the U.S. ranks better than countries in the EU, but is embarrassingly callous compared to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Jordan.
The book addresses both moral and selfish arguments for restricting immigration. It treats the selfish arguments (even those based on myths) as problems that can't be overcome, but which can be reduced via compromises. These pragmatic parts of the book are too ordinary to be worth much.
The sections about moral arguments are more powerful. He clearly demonstrates a large blind spot in the moral vision of those who think they're opposed to all discrimination but who aren't offended by discrimination on the basis of the nationality a person was assigned at birth. But he exaggerates when he claims that nationality is the only exception to a widely agreed on outrage at discrimination based on "condition of birth". Discrimination based on date of birth still gets wide support (e.g. the drinking age). And if you're born as a conjoined twin, don't expect much protection from surgery that looks about as moral as brain surgery designed to cure a child's homosexuality should.
Perhaps this book is one small step toward creating a movement with a slogan such as "Tear down that kinder, gentler Berlin wall!".
I was a little hesitant to read this book because I suspected it would do little more than reinforce my existing beliefs. There were certainly parts of the book that I would have been better off skipping for that reason.
But one important effect of the book was to convince me that the effects on the poor of migration to wealthier countries is so large compared to things like "foreign aid" and free trade that anyone trying to help the poor by influencing government policies shouldn't spend any time thinking about how to improve "foreign aid" or trade barriers.
I've long been wondering how to respond to remarks such as Jimmy Carter's 'We are the stingiest nation of all' based the U.S.'s low "foreign aid" to GDP ratio. Pointing out that "foreign aid" is mostly wasted or even harmful requires too much analysis of lots of not-too-strong evidence. Pritchett shows that the wealth affects of allowing the poor to work in rich countries should dominate any measure of how those rich countries treat the poor. By that measure, adjusting for country size, the U.S. ranks better than countries in the EU, but is embarrassingly callous compared to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Jordan.
The book addresses both moral and selfish arguments for restricting immigration. It treats the selfish arguments (even those based on myths) as problems that can't be overcome, but which can be reduced via compromises. These pragmatic parts of the book are too ordinary to be worth much.
The sections about moral arguments are more powerful. He clearly demonstrates a large blind spot in the moral vision of those who think they're opposed to all discrimination but who aren't offended by discrimination on the basis of the nationality a person was assigned at birth. But he exaggerates when he claims that nationality is the only exception to a widely agreed on outrage at discrimination based on "condition of birth". Discrimination based on date of birth still gets wide support (e.g. the drinking age). And if you're born as a conjoined twin, don't expect much protection from surgery that looks about as moral as brain surgery designed to cure a child's homosexuality should.
Perhaps this book is one small step toward creating a movement with a slogan such as "Tear down that kinder, gentler Berlin wall!".
By Jeremy Foote
Format:Paperback
This is a very compelling book from Mr. Pritchett. While he makes plenty of great economic arguments for freer migration policies, the one that has remained with me is the moral argument.
He points out our "Moral Perfectionism based on Proximity", and how ridiculous it is to believe that we should have different moral standards of behavior toward others based on where they were born.
A great book - I'm not an economist, and found it very accessible, while still full of information and great argument.
He points out our "Moral Perfectionism based on Proximity", and how ridiculous it is to believe that we should have different moral standards of behavior toward others based on where they were born.
A great book - I'm not an economist, and found it very accessible, while still full of information and great argument.
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 23
books:
See all 23 books this book cites
- Has Globalization Gone Too Far? by Dani Rodrik on page 102, and Back Matter
- International Economics by Alan Professor Winters in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration by Panel on the Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration in Back Matter
- Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick in Back Matter
- Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (The Tanner Lectures on Human Values) by Martha C. Nussbaum in Back Matter
See all 23 books this book cites
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