i am sony kapoor. i run a international think tank . i advise governments and international institutions on economics and governance issues. the eu is the most successful peace and prosperity generating project, despite all recent problems. merkel, who must be applauded for her stance, very open stance , to welcoming refugees, has been, perhaps, those prominent european union who has displayed leadership on this. if people are so desperate that they are risking death and, given that germany was responsible for driving millions of people out of europe as refugees, it is incumbent upon germany to be the country that takes the lead in welcoming people fleeing from conflict elsewhere. there is a lot of fear mongering in germany and elsewhere. some of this has to do with "all refugees carry diseases." some of it is that refugees have an anti-female attitude. in all of this, the numbers are clear. it is nonsense. the refugee crisis offers opportunity to start tackling the single biggest structural challenge to the economic future and prosperi