1048 



Referring; to the loss of physicians from the loss developed to the 

 developed countries, oi:e Pennsylvania educator wrote in 19G8: "This 

 country is simply stealing talent, and stealing it from countries that 

 can least afford it." ^ 



And on Januiuy 31, 1960, The Christian Science Monitor edito- 

 rialized: "With one hand the United States is giving [foreign] coun- 

 tries millions to develop themselves. And with the other it is casually 

 taking awa,y the Seed corn of future leaders in natural science, health, 

 and technical knowledge. These are even more precious to the country 

 than food or machinery." * 



These selected statem.ents refer to what has become commonly termed 

 the "brain drain." This issue, according to Herbert G. Grubel, 

 a student of tlie brain drain, had "penetrated public and official con- 

 sciousness in many parts of the world more quickly and deeply than 

 most other problems in the post-Avar world." ■' GrubeFs statement ap- 

 pears to be no exaggeration. 



By the mid-196fJ's, the brain drain had indeed become a dominant 

 problem in international relations. Serious concern had been mani- 

 fested among the donor nations of Western Europe and in the under- 

 developed areas, that is, the losers of professional manpower, and in 

 the United States, the principal gainer. Highly charged with emotion, 

 the brain drain issue became the subject of sharp discussion in the 

 United Nations, in other international and regional organizations, and 

 throughout the world scientific community. ]\Iuch of the criticism was 

 directed against the United States. Such criticism provoked searching 

 inquiries into the problem by the U.S. Congress, the executive branch, 

 and m^any professional scientific organizations such as the National 

 Science Foundation. Subsequent commentary and debate produced 

 a vast literature on the brain drain. 



General Characteristics of Brain Drain Issue 



In large measure the brain drain issue is three-dimensional : It is 

 a manpower problem in that it deals with the migration of talented 

 people, and, therefore, affects patterns of growth in both advanced and 

 developing countries; it is a development problem in that it deprives 

 the developing nations of much needed human capital for achieving 

 their major national goal, namely, modernization; finally, it is a prob- 

 lem in science and technology in that it relates directly to the manage- 

 meilt of resources and the building of infrastructure for modern in- 

 dustrial societies. 



In brief, the brain drain is a manpov.-er problem within the context 

 of international development, national growth, and national techno- 

 logical culture. As such it represents something of a unity of forces 

 in which education, science, and technology converge in the processes 

 of national development and in the general course of economic and 

 social progress. Critical to national growth in both advanced and de- 



^ Quoted in U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Government Operations, Research and 

 Technical Programs Subcommittee, The Brain Drain of Scientists, Engineers, and Physi- 

 cians from the Developing Countries into the United States. Hearings, 90th Cong., 2d 

 sess., Jan. 23, 1968, p. 39. (Hereafter cited as, Hearings, House Government Operations 

 Committee, Brain Drain, 1968.) 



* Quoted in. Walter Adams, "Talent That Won't Stay Put," Population Bulletin 25, 

 No. 3 (June 1969), p. 60. 



/Herbert G. Grubel, "The Reduction of the Brain Drain: Problems and Policies," 

 Minerva, 6, No. 4 (Summer 19G8), p. 541. 



