Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Western Union - Face of Global Migration


The internet age drove it bankrupt but migrants have brought it back, bigger than ever.

Western Union has returned to earn nearly a billion dollars a year mainly by helping migrants send money home. From the International Herald Tribune:

"Global migration is the cornerstone of how we've grown," said Christina Gold, Western Union's chief executive.

With five times as many locations as McDonald's, Starbucks, Burger King, and Wal-Mart combined, Western Union is the lone behemoth among hundreds of money transfer businesses in the United States.


Little-noticed by the public, seldom studied by scholars, these businesses form the infrastructure of global migration, a force remaking economics, politics and culture across the world. Last year, migrants from poor countries sent home $300 billion, about three times the world's foreign aid budgets combined.

3 comments:

Johnathon said...

Are you referring to ILLEGAL ALIENS SENDING MONEY BACK TO MEXICO?

Those illegal scumbags should be sent home packing A.S.A.P.

or maybe the 12 million illegal lawbreakers would be welcomed in Toronto where they would fit right in.

The Mound of Sound said...

Hi Fred: You're one nasty piece of work now, aren't you? Why do you think 12-million newly-minted Mexican-Americans would fit into a little place like Toronto? Freddy boy, take a laxative, you're backing up.

The Mound of Sound said...

One other thing, Freddie boy, you claim to be employed in "law enforcement or security." I assume that Welland doesn't have much time for cop bigots which leads me to believe you're probably guarding the front desk in some low-rise office building right now. C'mon, am I close?