RemittancesGateway.org

Remittances Also Benefit the U.S. Economy, Report Shows

Friday, 26 February 2010 13:13

Source: AllGov
By Noel Brinkerhoff

Immigrants in the U.S. who send money to their home countries not only help foreign economies but American businesses as well. The Immigration Policy Center has produced a new study that refutes the notion that remittances are bad for the U.S. economy, demonstrating that the exportation of American dollars by immigrants ultimately assists goods and services that Americans sell abroad.

“Many people believe that remittances are a money drain for the host country; they feel that it is a loss of domestic dollars because this money is not being spent here in the United States,” Kristin Johnson, the study’s author and professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island, told La Opinion. But, she added, the opposite is true: “Increasing purchasing power of families in countries like Mexico increases the demand for and capability of foreigners to purchase US exports.”