brain gain = drain

‘Brain gain’ for India as elite return seems exciting at first. One might think “Oh good! People returning to their homeland is a good thing, right?”

I find the phenomenon sad and disturbing.

Sad because it means the United States is losing out in the global competition for brains, and smart immigrants are precisely the ones we, as a country, want to keep. In fact, it’s fundamentally what our country is built on, and is one huge factor that explains why our country is successful, whereas places with more restrictive immigration laws, like the European economic zone, are lagging. Even now, countries like New Zealand, etc. are realizing that a liberal immigration policy is essential for success.

Disturbing because of descriptions such as:

Now the decision to choose India is much easier. Jobs are plentiful and, armed with good salaries, the newly returned can cocoon themselves in gated Western-style ghettoes, which shut out any trace of the ever-present slums, squalor and poverty.

Far be it from me to dictate to others how they lead their lives, but I hope that the newly repatriated Indians are giving back to their communities and raising them up, rather than isolating themselves in their lush gated compounds.