Patrick Imam on Citizenship and Growth

The notion of citizenship is relatively recent in our history. It was only in the 19th century with the birth of the nation-state that came the need to establish a legal distinction between those who belonged to the state and those who didn’t. But being a national or a foreigner influences one’s financial decisions, which can have a significant impact on a country’s economic development. In this podcast, IMF economist Patrick Amir Imam says while some citizenship laws help boost growth others can create conflict and instability. Imam is the representative of the IMF in Zimbabwe, and co-author of Citizenship and Growth, published in the March 2019 edition of Finance and Development Magazine.