En ”Modern MigrationsTeori”

Varför flyktinginvandringen inte är en statsfinansiell börda och hur modern penningteori hjälper oss att förstå det

Abstract

A “Modern Migration Theory”: Why refugee migration isn’t a fiscal burden and how Modern Monetary Theory helps us understand that

Today both researchers and policymakers agree that refugees admitted to the European Union constitute a net cost and fiscal burden for the receiving countries. As is often claimed, there is a trade-off between refugee migration and the fiscal sustainability of the welfare state. This contribution argues that the consensual cost-perspective on migration is built on a flawed economic conception of the orthodox “sound finance” doctrine. By shifting perspective to examine migration through the macroeconomic lens offered by Modern Monetary Theory, the article demonstrates sound finance’s detrimental impact on migration policy and research. Most importantly, this undertaking offers the tools with which both migration research and migration policy could be modernized and put on a realistic footing. Such a realistic approach perceives of refugees not as fiscal burdens but as the real resources they are. Empirically, the article attends to the case of Sweden, the country that, proportionally speaking, has received the most refugees in the EU over the years while also having one of the most comprehensive welfare states in the EU.