According to the neoliberal, globalist dogma, dominating the world since the roaring nineties, immigration is a win-win situation as people move from low-paid jobs in the developing countries to more productive and higher paid jobs in the developed countries. Everybody wins, right? Not so. The losers are the low-skilled workers in the developed countries, which creates resentment and political radicalisation, and it is no recipe for development in the developing countries. Solution? Move the jobs, not the people.

Should people have the right to move freely between countries? As it is well known, in large parts of the world, capital is already moving freely. And well-off people can move freely: in many developed countries, if you promise to invest enough, you get a permanent residence permit. But why limit this to well-off people? Why not let all people move as they want? It is a good question. But apart from the well-known problems in the country receiving the migrants, it is often overlooked that massive migrations carry high costs for the migrants. And the countries they leave behind tend to get stuck in a low level of development.