‘Human Capital Borrowed’

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31343, 13 April 1967, Page 8

‘Human Capital Borrowed’

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, April 12. America’s “borrowing” of doctors, scientists and engineers will save them thousands of millions of dollars, Professor Richard M. Titmuss told the British National Conference on Social Welfare at Church House, Westminster.

He said that since 1949 the United States had absorbed —and to some extent deliberately recruited —100,000 doctors, scientists and engineers from developed and developing countries. “In about 18 years the United States will have saved some 4000 million dollars by not having to educate and train, or train fully, this vast quantity of human capital,” Professor Titmuss, of the London School of Economics, said. “It has spent more on consumption goods, less on public services. It has taxed itself more lightly while imposing heavier taxation on poorer countries. Aid to U.S. “In medicine alone, foreign doctors now account for nearly 20 per cent of the annual additions to the American medical profession. The world now provides as much or more medical aid to the United States in terms of dollars as the total cost of all American medical aid, private and public, to foreign countries.” Professor Titmuss said a study he made recently showed that American ad-

vertisements for British doctors—often accompanied by recruiting campaigns rose from 134 in 1951 to more than 4000 in 1966. Britain Guilty Many monetary experts abroad seemed to place a different valuation on countries which depend heavily on "borrowing” human capital, as distinct from those which borrow financial capital. “For such no

payment is made to the lending country. There are no interest charges, and there is no intention of repaying the loan,” Professor Titmuss said. The United States was not alone. Britain also relied heavily on the skills of doctors from poorer countries. But guilty as Britain was in this, “at least it cannot be said that we are deliberately organising recruitment campaigns in economically poorer countries,” he said.