Two Brown University Economics professors, Drs Louis Putterman and David N. Weil, have published a fascinating study entitled "Post-Colombian Population Movements and the Roots of World Inequality." The study examines the migration patterns of the last five hundred years and concludes that high migrant based societies have, on the whole, been far more successful economically that non-migrant societies. The societies that have remained static, however, transmit "culturally set attitudes and beliefs" that have made them less flexible and open to creative new directions. High migrant societies are more "open" to change and low migrant based societies are more "closed" to change.
On the map above (click to enlarge in a pop-up box) one can see, predictably, the "Old World" is composed of Europe, Africa and Asia and the "New World" would be the western hemisphere with Australia/New Zealand included. In the New World, Mexico turns out to be the largest "old country" according to their data with its large non-migratory population. How has this affected Mexico economically? The bad news is that, as history has shown us, the European immigrants marginalized and exploited the indigenous populations to their own benefit. What would be very interesting to know, though impossible, would be to see the data from the migratory patterns of the next 500 years.
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