Exodus

Mass international migration is a response to extreme global inequality, and immigration has a profound impact on the way we live. Yet our views - and those of our politicians - remain caught between two extremes- popular hostility to migrants, tinged by xenophobia and racism; and the view of business and liberal elites that 'open doors' are both economically and ethically imperative. Few issues are so urgently in need of dispassionate analysis - and few are more incendiary. Clear-headed and insightful, Exodusseeks to defuse this explosive subject. Paul Collier, an internationally renowned economist and leading expert on global poverty, looks at how the effects of extreme inequality are changing our world. He shows how people from the world's poorest societies struggle to migrate to the rich West; examines the effects on those left behind and on the host societies; and explores the impulses and thinking that inform Western immigration policy. Bringing sharp analysis and practical wisdom to this divisive issue, Collier argues that, while we must guard against the evils of nationalism, national identity does matter - and migration controls are increasingly important tools of social policy. What is wrong is not that migrant controls exist, but that their design is so inept. It is not a question of whether migration is bad or good - but how much migration is best.