“Refugees are not a burden,” says critically acclaimed political economist and commentator Philippe Legrain. Based on his experience as founder of Open Political Economy Network (OPEN) and writer of numerous books on the subject, Legrain shares how opening our arms to refugees can yield economic dividends. In his talk, Legrain states that refugees are creative, innovative, hard working and can quickly add to the bottom line if given the opportunity.

Philippe Legrain is a critically acclaimed thinker, communicator and political entrepreneur and former senior policy adviser.

A senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics’ European Institute, he is the founder of Open Political Economy Network (OPEN), an international platform for progress on openness issues. A columnist for Project Syndicate, Foreign Policy and CapX, he commentates for many international media outlets.

From 2011 to 2014, he was economic adviser to the President of the European Commission and head of the team providing President José Manuel Barroso with strategic policy advice. Previously, he was chief economist for Britain in Europe, special adviser to World Trade Organization director-general Mike Moore and trade and economics correspondent for The Economist.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx