The Importance of Complementarity in the Economy

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Not all refugees and migrants are the same. They bring very different skills. A lot of sometimes they bring diversity and skills that we didn't have before. And this is important from an economic perspective because that means that they are often more complimentary than substitutes to other workers. If you want more Americans to be doctors and engineers, you're also going to need Americans or people who live in America who are going to be cap drivers and cooks.

Co-host Janet Bush talks with economist Dany Bahar. He is an associate professor of practice of international and public affairs at Brown University’s Watson Institute and a senior fellow of the Growth Lab at the Harvard Center for International Development. He’s also a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Center for Global Development. Two themes stand out in his work: the diffusion of technology and knowledge, and migration. In this podcast, Bahar covers topics including the following: