Irony of history: migratory flows reversed, and so it is the talents of the Old Continent, gripped by the crisis, who emigrate to the New World, and no longer vice versa. AND' the modern version of (re)colonization, which forces the former conquerors to return to the "places of the crime", but this time not to impose their power but to take refuge, thanks to the foothold of the language and cultural proximity, in the new El Dorado of business.
It therefore happens, for example, that the Spanish press even speaks of "exodus" to describe the phenomenon of the migration of young (and not only) Iberians to Argentina: in 2011, 50 people left their mother Spain to reach the South American state, whose economy runs at a record pace (it is the second country in the world in growth rate behind China alone). The reasons? Of course. There unemployment alarming situation in which the reign of Juan Carlos fell: 20%, the highest in Europe. Not to mention that of young people, which reaches double the continental average (40%), well above, for example, the 8% in the Netherlands. Furthermore, in Spain 15% of young people aged between 15 and 24 do not work or study (10% the EU average). So, we might as well try the overseas adventure.
According to the OECD, it even happens that originally Argentine citizens, emigrated to Europe during the 2001 crisis and naturalized Spaniards, are now returning to and around Buenos Aires.
The same happens for the Anglo-Saxon countries. Not so much England, but Ireland, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers has seen an increase in "leakage" abroad from 2009 onwards. At first it was only Polish immigrants who returned home, but now the phenomenon affects the Irish themselves. In 2011, again according to OECD data, 40 of them (including an impressive percentage of women) chose to follow in the footsteps of James Cook, moving to the other side of the world, to Australia and New Zealand.
Not even the appeal could be missing Portugal, choosing the most logical option there was: the Brazil. In the last year, seventy thousand Lusitanians have taken the Lisbon-Sao Paulo flight, but not only that: someone has even opted for Angola, whose capital Luanda is, listen, listen, one of the most expensive cities in the world (and with the lowest quality of life). But despite this, the game is worth the candle: the average salary is so higher than the Portuguese one that it allows immigrants to live and even have savings.
However, Brazil remains the most natural destination, also given the policy of the South American locomotive, which to drive further its economy needs “brains” (engineers, technicians, computer scientists, etc) who can develop infrastructure and energy potential. And in fact the government of Brasilia, usually hostile to granting easy visas, is changing its strategy to welcome qualified personnel: from January to September 2011 it issued the 32% more work permits for foreigners (for a total of 51.353).
Not just work though. As you have in fact pointed out Tito Boeri, professor of Economics at Bocconi in Milan, Brazil is also “by far the country in the world that has recently attracted the most students, especially undergraduate and PhD students, with an abysmal gap on China. Even if the US and the UK remain in first place”.
And the Italians and the Greeks, who don't have any former colonies to rely on? The Hellenes, despite the difficulty of the language, have lately targeted solid Germany (better to go without fail ..), while we do not have a favorite destination: you can find made in Italy in every part of the world.
Read also Le Figaro
