American Dream Hit by Dollar’s Decline
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Migrant workers are choosing to move to Europe, Australia or Canada instead of the US in order to protect the purchasing power of the money they send home to their families, according to one of the world’s leading experts on remittances.
The shift is a result of sharp falls in the value of the US dollar against other international currencies, many of which have been boosted by the rise in commodity prices.
“We are seeing workers from Bangladesh, Nepal and especially the Philippines choosing destinations where they’ll get paid in stronger currencies,” Dilip Ratha, head of the World Bank’s remittances and migration unit, told the Financial Times.
Mr Ratha said the trend was especially notable among skilled workers, such as doctors, nurses and information technology specialists.
In its most recent analysis of remittance trends, published at the end of last year, the bank said the slowdown in the US economy had depressed the growth of remittance flows to Mexico and some other Latin American economies. However, overall flows to developing countries were still expected to have grown by 8 per cent to reach $240bn (€150bn, £121bn).
Mr Ratha said that in the past four years the US share of remittances to Central American and Andean countries had declined from more than 90 per cent to 80 per cent, with migrants from Ecuador and Bolivia especially likely to favour European destinations.
Recent evidence from Brazil shows a similar preference for Europe and Canada, even among unskilled workers. Migrant workers from Brazil have been especially affected as the country’s own currency, the real, has nearly doubled in value against the dollar since early 2003.
In a survey of 200 migrants who had recently returned to the Brazilian city of Governador Valadares, local sociologist Sueli Siqueira found that 28 per cent planned to migrate again but this time to Europe or Canada.
Mr Ratha argues that much of the recent increase in remittances in many countries has been due to efforts by migrant workers to protect the purchasing power of their families at home, in the face of inflation and local currency appreciation.
Stripping out the impact of local currency appreciation and local inflation, Mr Ratha found that, between 2004 and 2007, cash flows to the Philippines, India and Mexico—the three countries which, along with China, receive most remittances—increased by 3 per cent, 13 per cent and 19 per cent respectively, compared with increases in nominal dollar terms of 50 per cent, 44 per cent and 38 per cent.
(Posted on April 3, 2008)
Comments
Now, will the Indians listen and NOT come the USA and steal our jobs?
Posted by at 6:17 PM on April 3
Forget about the immigrants. What about the American people ? Our dollar is in freefall because our government has so many bills to pay. What happens in a year or two when the baby boomers retire ? Who’s going to foot the bill for their Social Security and Medicare ? We are already up to our ears in debt and the politicians continue to spend like drunken sailors ( sorry about that, gobbies ). The governmment continues to print money like the Parker Brothers Game Co. Pretty soon Monopoly money will be worth about as much as the real thing. Our government wants to spend more of our dough to combat AIDS in Africa. The inmates are running the asylum. We are on the same path as the old Soviet Union. We will go out with a whimper, not a bang.
Posted by gee vee at 8:46 PM on April 3
At least this proves that wanting to be an American had little or nothing to do with these modern immigrants motives for coming.
But no one twill learn anything from this.
Posted by Whiteplight at 9:11 PM on April 3
Good. Go home.
When I was living in Australia, I was paid in US dollars, and since the Oz dollar declined from 82 cents to about 62 cents while I was there, this amounted to a massive pay raise for me, since I spent the money locally, except for a trip back to the US, to Louisville, Kentucky, to visit a lady friend.
A nice recession might actually be just what the white middle class needs in order to be considered desireable employees again.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 1:27 PM on April 4
The third world invaders ” dream ” is white-America’s ” nightmare ” because of crime, excessive taxes for unconstitutional social programs and ethnic/cultural cleansing.
Posted by Michigan patriot at 6:03 PM on April 4
If the migrants go to other countries then maybe some good will come out of this recession… unfortunately they will be another country’s problem.
Posted by at 9:59 PM on April 4
I think if Ayn Rand were alive today she’d call her book “White Man Shrugged” rather than “Atlas Shrugged”
Posted by at 2:16 PM on April 5
Well, well- maybe the Bush administration has finally gotten something related to immigration right after all…
Posted by Student at 12:52 PM on April 7
That third-worlders are moving to Europe rather than America can be seen as bad news for Europeans but definitely GOOD NEWS for Americans.
Time to cut all the bull droppings and concentrate on putting Americans FIRST in the national employment picture. Call it protectionism or call it common sense. But call ALL future employees to be hired American citizens! Why shoot ourselves, our country, in the collective foot by giving American jobs away to third-worlders? That smacks of collective insanity more than anything else!!!
Posted by Fed Up at 1:08 PM on April 7
We need stop all immigration and tell the minorities including the blacks to go to hell. We are damned mad and we aren’t going to take it anymore.
Posted by at 5:02 PM on April 8