Philippe Legrain

There is no evidence that new migrants to Britain are jumping the queue for council and housing association homes to the detriment of any other group, including white families, according to new research  published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Local Government Association. The Guardian reports that: out of the 10.1 million [...]

Surprise, surprise. All the tabloid scare stories and wider fears about a migrant crime wave are unfounded, a police report says: The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) canvassed the views of detectives and community officers across the UK. It found no evidence that crime is more prevalent among East Europeans than other groups. It [...]

The horrific death by suffocation of 54 Burmese migrants when the ventilation failed in an airtight containter taking them to the tourist resort of Phuket is briefly in the headlines. As a tourist, you have doubtless seen others like them against the backdrop of your fairy-tale holiday. It is a sharp reminder of the grim [...]

An excellent article by Tim Leunig of the London School of Economics in today’s FT points out that the fall in UK house prices due to the credit crunch is not making housing more affordable for the less well-off. On the contrary: while banks are still ready to lend on good terms to wealthier borrowers [...]

America’s annual dash to hire skilled foreign professionals is already over. It began, perhaps appropriately, on April Fool’s Day and within a week the 65,000 quota was filled. High-tech employers said their inability to get visas to import workers would force them to expand their operation overseas. Robert Hoffman, vice president of Oracle Corp., said [...]

Slough is often cited as an example of a town struggling to cope with the strain of increased migration, notably on public services. Yet an excellent article by David Rose in the Observer paints a very different picture. The town is booming, and while public services have encountered some difficulties, migrants are not – as [...]

Professionals from developing countries are less inclined to make America – or, for that matter, any country besides their own – their permanent home. Like Western professionals, they increasingly regard stints abroad as personal growth opportunities, not permanent moves – a change in attitude with profound implications. says an interesting article by Shikha Dalmia in [...]

Willem Buiter has written an excellent post on why he disagrees with Martin Wolf’s recent column on immigration, and why he agrees with me that freedom of movement is a fundamental human right. More interestingly, he develops at length how he believes countries should function as "open clubs". While I have quibbles with some of [...]

WorldWrite, an educational charity that promotes global equality, is launching The More The Merrier, its new documentary on the case for the free movement of people worldwide on Sunday 20 April at 6pm at the New Vibe Lounge in Brick Lane, London E1. I’ll be speaking at the launch, as will Claire Fox of the [...]

Washington Post, 6 April 2008. Like it or hate it, NAFTA is not a big deal for the US economy – and renegotiating should not be a priority for the new president

Read my article in the Washington Post here.

1. We don’t have enough evidence on the economic impact of immigration on the UK. 2. We didn’t commission any new data or research. 3. We didn’t put our hands up and admit: "Sorry guv, we don’t know". We are Lords: we know. 4. We ignored the main arguments for why immigration may be beneficial. [...]

One of immigration critics’ favourite arguments is that Britain is full up. Even if immigrants might have something to contribute to this country, they argue, we simply can’t house a larger population. The argument is superficially attractive to anyone who is often stuck in traffic or on a crowded train. Yet it is flawed in [...]

FT commentator Martin Wolf, a man I respect immensely, has written another column questioning the benefits of immigration. I respectfully disagree. You can read his article here. I have written this letter to the FT in reply: I have immense respect for Martin Wolf, but his analysis of the economics of immigration leaves a lot [...]

Danny Finkelstein of the Times, who incidentally favours immigration controls for other reasons, points out that the House of Lords report is not definitive in any way. The House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs has examined the available evidence on the economic impact of immigration. The media coverage suggests that the report has [...]

I debated this with Andrew Green of MigrationWatch on Radio 4′s World at One programme today. Listen here

The House of Lords’ report on the economic impact of immigration to the UK concludes that it has "little or no impact" on the economic wellbeing of Britons, and backs the Conservatives’ demand for a cap on immigration. But their findings and recommendations are deeply flawed – which is perhaps not surprising considering the committee [...]