[Mordisquitos]

> The people who move rarely lose all contact with the host country. They gain invaluable experience, know-how, and contacts that some of them eventually bring back to the host country.

How many Europeans who emigrated to the USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries returned to their countries after making it big in America? Is any of Europe's economic development since then attributable to them?

[detourdog]

My families original immigrents had many members return to Europe. My Grandfather went back to the old country after WW2 to try to find the family that stayed behind or returned and there was no trace of them.

Our 20th century immigrant experience was that the old country evaporated and there was no longer a connection.

[swiftcoder]

This is a difficult comparison to make, given that Europe experienced a >5% total population loss in that period due to two world wars, and half of Europe remained behind the iron curtain for another ~30 years. For a significant portion of emigrants, there wasn't a whole lot to return to.

[jgilias]

I don’t know. But I don’t think that matters to the discussion. The world is a much different place these days. A lot more connected.

Also, most of that emigration was more like “famine-drain”.

[staticman2]

My ancestors were fleeing from Russia to USA and certainly wouldn't be looking to return.