Vi's blog reminds me of an article in NY Times last week on a World Bank study that talked about brain drain from small developing countries and how it is affecting the growth of middle class and the overall economic development of the countries themselves. The effect is much more pronounced in the small countries in Africa, Carribean and Central America; the large developing nations such as India, China, Brazil, Indonesia have only about 5% brain drain which is not as damaging.

A pdf of the article is attached.