Mint Quick Edit | The West’s trade-off: Will it act rationally?

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As their people age, they need  foreign workers to help sustain output growth. Germany’s GDP would have been about 6% lower without such workers, noted European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde, while Spain’s post-pandemic rebound owes them “much".

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With anti-immigration political rhetoric on the rise, however, entry barriers could put the West’s economic expansion at risk. Other rich countries like Japan are trying to adapt, but Western nations face a trade-off between nativist policies, as the US now seems bent on, and a growth-supporting influx of people from elsewhere. This will test their much-vaunted capacity for rational thinking. 

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The winning formula isn’t hard to grasp. It hinges on public acceptance of social diversity as  favouring their own interest. Thankfully, India doesn’t face such a dilemma. But we mustn’t take our demographic dividend for granted. The employability of our youth is still too variable.