January 23, 2012
America: Still the Land of Opportunity
Pundits can talk about the demise of America, and opine about why we are no longer great. Media elite can talk about the post-America geopolitics of the world. But though it makes for good press, preying on our fears of decline and the loss of the American way, the numbers tell a different story.
America is still the land of opportunity. It is still where the world’s best and brightest come to improve the lives of themselves and their children. The numbers don’t lie. Where are they coming from? Graph of the day:
Who comes to the US? Certainly not the stereotypical field worker or day laborer. This study from 2008 (a working paper from France-based CEPII) shows that the US is the recipient of “best and brightest” workers, with the average being at least a college degree holding professional.
Do folks head the other way—that is, are Americans leaving the US because they believe their future would be stronger elsewhere? No…or at least not yet. The study finds that “the reverse flows of US workers in Europe are very small.” Instead, the data shows a trend that “the emigration rate is accelerating as one moves along the ladder of the occupations that matter the most in the knowledge economy.” America is not only winning what human resources professionals sometimes call “the war for talent” but the pace of that victory is accelerating.
That is good news for the US, and its role as the world’s Land of Opportunity: The American century continues, and people are coming from far and wide to participate.
