Giving and Taking

Investigation into impact of refugees in Europe finds rising public debt will be offset by a much greater rise in GDP Refugees who arrived in Europe last year could repay spending on them almost twice over within just five years, according to one of the first in-depth investigations into the impact incomers have on host communities. Refugees will create more jobs, increase demand for services and products, and fill gaps in European workforces – while their wages will help fund dwindling pensions pots and public finances, says Philippe Legrain, a former economic adviser to the president of the European commission. [Read more].

• Patrick Kingsley, Refugees will repay EU spending almost twice over in five years – report, The Guardian, May 18, 2016

Migrants and refugees wait in line under the rain for food distribution at the makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, Greece. Photo: Bülent Kiliç/AFP/Getty Images.