From
Roving Bandit (unfortunately the link to the post appears to be broken) comes this chart, making plain this astonishing conclusion:
The potential gains to poor people of being allowed the opportunity to work in a rich country for even a few weeks blow every other conceivable anti-poverty measure completely out of the water.
I once attended a lecture series on globalization featuring Larry Summers and political philosopher Michael Sandel, and week after week Summers pounded Sandel on why free trade/markets/etc. were better for prosperity and happiness. The great turnaround came the week that migration and labor mobility was on the agenda - Sandel couldn't hide his grin as he opened, "So Larry, you think free movement of capital and goods is so important... so why not labor?" Larry mumbled something about massive social dislocations, which isn't a bad answer, but it was a memorable moment. This chart reminded me of it, and makes me wonder whether Sandel might have been on to something after all.
From Roving Bandit 
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