Migrants on the move; is north-south migration good for the world economy?

MIGRANTS ON THE MOVE

Nature has a way of balancing extremes. Today, many wealthy nations face an extreme shortage of workers while many poor nations face an extreme threat of overpopulation. Is migration the natural balance to the world's lopsided demographics?

With growing links in the world economy, migration benefits both accepter and sender nations. Skilled migrants bring economic vitality to their new countries. While their departures lead to brain drains at home, they often ease severe domestic employment problems.

Currently, there are between 20 and 22 million "economically active migrants" around the world, according to the International Labour Office. These are legal nonrefugee workers who establish residency in another country.

Most migrants today are Asian or Latin American, not European. That's a drastic change from the end of the last century. Today, "northso uth migrants" flow from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to four major destinations: the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

By far the United States takes in the largest number of legal immigrants annually--600,000 a year. Australia admits about 93,000 a year, Canada admits 84,000, and New Zealand admits 35,000.

These four countries have built their economies on open immigration. But when the prospect of unemployment rises at home, they begin to close their doors. New Zealand allows 11,000 fewer entrants today than in 1982, while Canada allows 37,000 fewer entrants.