The UK is experiencing yet another of its episodic waves of “brain drain“:
Record numbers of Britons are leaving – many of them doctors, teachers and engineers – in the biggest exodus for almost 50 years.
There are now 3.247 million British-born people living abroad, of whom more than 1.1 million are highly-skilled university graduates, say the researchers.
More than three quarters of these professionals have settled abroad for more than 10 years, according to the study by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
No other nation is losing so many qualified people, it points out. Britain has now lost more than one in 10 of its most skilled citizens, while overall only Mexico has had more people emigrate.
Bad enough in itself, but there is also a strange kind of optimism:
The emigration was leading to a rapid change in British society as large numbers of highly-skilled immigrants moved to this country to replace those leaving, (a British migration expert) said.
“Britain has been lucky – although it has lost substantial numbers of people, it has attracted more than a million skilled immigrants to replace them. If they stop coming then that would be a problem.”
Well, from the point of view of cultural self-preservation, applauding the influx of aliens to supplant a restive native elite is certainly looking for a pony at the bottom of the pile of s***. To what shall we attribute this de-Britainization of Britain?
Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said: “Ten years of Labour has re-created the brain drain. High taxes and Government interference are driving people away…”
Prof David Coleman, of St John’s, Oxford, said the brain drain was “to do with quality of life, laws and bureaucracy, tax and all the rest of it”.
Surprising they should choose to leave, I know, what with all the free health care. But we live in a global economy where barriers to the exchange of ideas, goods and services are very low. It appears that successful, hard working, healthy and educated elites prefer working where their services are valuable in their own right rather than places that see them as pocketbooks to plunder.
File this one under the category of “Taxes have consequences.”
Lex,
If that population exchange program keeps up at it’s current pace, even the libraries will soon be affected.
I can see the titles now:
“Robin Hood & the Imam of Nottingham”, or “The Three Little Jihadies”, or that perennial favourite, Al’Aqsa in Paradiseland”..
Respects,
Heres some great news: A gigantic mosque will be going up right next to the 2012 Olympics. Maybe even the biggest in Europe. Whoo Hoo!
Having sown the seeds of their own culture’s destruction, they are now abandoning ship. I fear the 37.7 per cent that have humanities or social science degrees. We are already suffering from the influx of Brit journalists with their anti-American bias (and why did they come here in that case?). The “humanities” and “social science” professionals will only compound the problem.
This is really funny, because freshly graduated doctors and dentists from Germany tend to go to Britain because work conditions are better there than here (less work-hours, better pay/hour) …
A middle-aged friend of mine recently emigrated from England to the US with wife and kid. Changed core values as well as erosion of law and order were big factors in his decision.
A preoccupation with the perceived evils of taxation obscures the many more important reasons for the current massive British middle class and professionals’ emigration. And ironically, simultaneous immigration into the UK exceeds its outflow of British citizens…. Of course therein lies one challenging problem, and is a major underlying reason for the diaspora.
The fact is, rather than taxation being the primary cause of Britain’s “brain drain,” it is the expressed greater opportunity and quality of life elsewhere that draws Brits away from their homeland in great numbers.
A recent Emigrate magazine survey found 85% of readers thought, “Britain was grinding to a halt.”
The greater availability of better foreign jobs and advancement opportunities, the ability to obtain cheaper housing, and mostly to live in a much less crowded country with less crime, less traffic congestion, and better weather were listed prime factors….but not taxation. Less “work stress” and a greater value on “leisure and lifestyle” were the top reasons for emigration in a similar Alliance & Leicester study.
While high taxation may be a factor, it is certainly secondary. (The angry comments to the original linked article detailed many reasons from both the Left and Right for leaving, but taxation while mentioned, was not a leading reason.) Indeed, some destination countries have similar tax rates.
Britain’s post-Thatcher deregulated US-style economy, despite its growing GDP, is obviously not satisfying the middle and professional class in terms of ample opportunities, happiness, or quality of life. (We in the US are just beginning to see some of the same warning flags.) And Britain is undergoing a sea change, demographically that will lead to many more future changes and problems.
We would do well here in the US to look beyond taxation as the cause for Britain’s’ “brain loss” so we do not have a similar national malaise here in our future.
Since the British Government doesn’t seem to be able/want to maintain their military, and since we want to expand ours, why not offer some of those famous old Regiments like the Royal Scots a place in the U.S. They could fit in a niche somewhere between our regular military forces and people like Blackwater. Let them maintain their structure and traditions, and let them recruit from their usual base, but offer them the support they need and a chance to avoid the oblivion that seems to be their most likely fate.
Fliterman, while you make a valid point I do have to wonder why I’ve not seen more British ex-pats here in South Dakota. I mean, we have low taxes, cheap housing, no traffic congestion and if you don’t like the weather all you have to do is wait a day and it’ll change! I mean, it’s perfect!
Alright, it’s also -16 degrees. Can’t have everyting.
– Max
MaxD – You also have some great pheasant hunting there as I recall…not to mention a strong living vein of stalwart, pioneer-stock descendants.
-16 degrees (I assume you mean below zero, and not with wind-chill either, and converts I think to –27 Celsius) gets anyone’s attention!
I grew up and worked sometimes in similar temperatures, and I shiver at the thought even today, many years later. I suspect the reason South Dakota’s population has not increased significantly in the last 50 years has less to do with what the population may enjoy on cold winter nights, and more with the culling of the more weak via their emigration…just as this weak scribe emigrated to warmer climes… but maintains serious respect for those – their values, virtue, and spirit – who remain.
However, the British – like Noel Coward’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen – seem to gravitate toward “tropical climes,” which may explain the conspicuous absence of any Brits in the God’s country of SoDak.