Thursday, February 25, 2010
Immigrants in the U.S. who send money to their home countries not only help foreign economies but American businesses as well. The Immigration Policy Center has produced a new study that refutes the notion that remittances are bad for the U.S. economy, demonstrating that the exportation of American dollars by immigrants ultimately assists goods and services that Americans sell abroad.
“Many people believe that remittances are a money drain for the host country; they feel that it is a loss of domestic dollars because this money is not being spent here in the United States,” Kristin Johnson, the study’s author and professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island, told La Opinion. But, she added, the opposite is true: “Increasing purchasing power of families in countries like Mexico increases the demand for and capability of foreigners to purchase US exports.”
The U.S. was responsible for $100 billion in remittances in 2008, producing just over 25% of the world total.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Remittances Also Benefit the United States (La Opinion)
Las Remesas Benefician También A Estados Unidos (Impre.com)
Many Happy Returns: Remittances and their Impact (Immigration Policy Center) (pdf)
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