International aid or development assistance is defined in several ways. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines international aid to “include grants and loans to developing countries and territories which are: (i) with the promotion of economic development and welfare in the recipient country as the main objective and (ii) at concessional financial terms (i.e. conveys a grant element of at least 25 percent).” This definition is commonly accepted, however; some analysts include loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the World Bank (concessional or not) in their definitions. The history of international development aid can be tracked down to antiquity, however, the modern era saw international development aid begin to evolve in the 19th and early 20th century (Kapur, 2003) but the true expansion of international development aid was in the aftermath of the Second World War. The most significant events in accordance with the establishment of international development aid were the creation of The United Nations, The Marshall Plan, and The Bretton Woods conference that established the World Bank and the IMF. The modern manifestation of international development aid is extremely widespread. There are countless international organizations and governments present which all contribute to international development aid as it is a moral responsibility, however, what is the effectiveness of the aid they provide? This paper argues
On one side of the issue the supporters of developmental aid believe that the United States is doing more than a great job by offering economic assistance to countries that need help to develop. These individuals are aware of the unfortunate poverty levels in many countries abroad. They believe that it is the duty of the American people to help reduce the poverty levels in countries in which people live with less than a dollar a day. In fact, some supporters believe that the U.S. is not offering enough support to the poorer countries. Many have
Riddell, Roger C. 2007. Does Foreign Aid Really Work? 1st ed. OXFORD: Oxford University Press, USA.
Hardin informs us that the well- intentioned of helping is actually counterproductive. When the United States gives international aid to third world countries, we cause more suffering in the end. The poor country that receives aid is not growing wealthy or
The main point of Banerjee and Duflo’s Poor Economics (2012) is that aid is neither good nor bad: there are instances where it can help greatly and instances where it can fail those it seeks to help(4). Aid is a powerful tool, therefore it’s imperative that we carefully select the right types of projects (Banerjee & Duflo, 2012, p. 4-5). Banerjee and Duflo (2012) present a few key points of action as a framework for approaching aid, with the broadest issue being the idea that too much responsibility is placed on the poor in making the most basic decisions (268-69). One example that Banerjee and Duflo (2012) offer is the fact that many of the poorest people don’t have sanitary water
For many years, the U.S. has cut back on its promised obligations and responsibilities to help the cause of development aid. Between 1990 and 1993, U.S. exports to developed countries grew by 6.2%. In contrast, during that same period, U.S. exports to developing countries grew by a remarkable 49.8%, yielding 46 billion dollars more and 920,000 jobs in the United States (Atwood). Assistance cuts hurt America’s
According the US Census Bureau, the United States spent $44.957 billion on foreign aid in 2009, in terms of total foreign assistance. Of that, just over $11 billion was military assistance. The nations that received the most foreign aid were Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Pakistan. Some aid went to financial institutions and to aid agencies, and therefore is difficult to classify by country. By regions, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East were the biggest recipients of foreign aid. The recipients and types of foreign aid are indicative of priorities that the US government has with respect to foreign relations. As many people applaud high levels of foreign aid from the US to poor countries around the world, foreign aid also has its critics. From a domestic perspective, criticisms include the argument that this money would be better used in the United States, and the libertarian argument against all forms of foreign aid in general. It is worth noting that many critics of foreign aid still support aid to support military objectives, which includes the four largest recipient of aid (Traub, 2011). External critics of foreign aid argue that such aid has generally failed to achieve its objectives, for a variety of reasons ranging from rapidly increasing populations to corruption to the promotion of dependency relationships (Bovard, 1986). This paper will analyze US foreign aid in the context of its success and failures and make the case that the United States
An innocent child begs her mother for food, a single tear running down her cheek. The fires of life that once filled the girl’s eyes slowly begin to fade. The mother embraces her child, tells her the pain will be gone within a few moments. As she holds her, she feels the warmth slip away; her little girl’s body becomes engulfed by empty coldness. So much could have been done to save that life, from local government support to foreign aid, yet not enough aid was given. And so, society is posed with the question of “How much aid should wealthy nations provide for developing countries?” This paper will look at the philosophy behind this question by analyzing two articles.
The arguments on aid have been seen largely from two perspectives: idealistic and realistic points of view. The idealist arguments are normative, with no real possibilities of assessing their validity. In contrast, evidence can be gathered to test the economic consequences of aid although different interpretations of the evidence are always possible and disagreements over the conclusiveness of the test are
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge claims that the foreign aid spending is just as essential to safety as defense programs spending, those programs are essential to diplomacy and targeting roots causes of terrorism.
Foreign aid is the assistance given to other countries in a time of need. Foreign aid is there to provide mostly military assistance during or after a time of despair. Foreign aid has many advantages and disadvantages. Foreign aid benefits other countries health which makes the world a healthier place all around. It is also our job as a stronger nation to contribute to less fortunate countries. If it wasn’t for foreign aid, many countries wouldn’t be half of what they even are today. However, Foreign aid is continuing to cause more debt for us as a country. The northern hemisphere of the world is also receiving more assistance than the Southern part of the world, which could cause frustration with the united states. Overall, foreign aid is a concept which can be argued on either
“Benefits of foreign aid have recently been under severe scrutiny. Several observers argue that a large portion of foreign aid flow from developed to developing countries is wasted and increases unproductive public consumption. Poor institutional development, corruption,
Foreign aid is money, food, or other resources given or lent by one country to
Most of the developing countries are mired deeply in economical obstacles, which prevent them from development significantly. In order to overcome those embarrassments world’s society struggles to find the efficient solution for poor countries’ economies. Historically, developed countries undertook policy of giving aid to their colonies, afterwards by the end of The Second World War the United States and United Nations embarked the global sponsorship to the developing countries and countries of the Third World due to humanitarian considerations. Since then many other countries have joined in the effort to provide financial aid to lesser developed or poverty ridden countries. But none of those countries that received an aid had experienced a prosperity phase and rapid economic growth.
Over the last 50 years, the world has struggled to maintain an economic balance and stability, while flourishing countries try to maintain a steady income to support its people and relations with other countries. Therefore, when a continent like Africa fails to maintain a stable government and economy, super powers such as America decide to intervene with its relations. Africa has great potential to become another pillar of the world’s economic structure with its mass amounts of uncultivated land. Unfortunately, corruption and irresponsible governments hinder that progress. Foreign aid while helpful should be limited to a yearly amount because it allows the government to repudiate responsibility and gives room for corruption; it creates a
Harvard Business School’s Case Study “Aid, Debt Relief, and Trade: An agenda for fighting World Poverty” outlines the steps, and missteps, that the world community has taken since World War II to address the efficacy of international assistance. The study focuses on international financial institutions (IFIs) and their ability to help poor nations break out of poverty and the possible obligations of rich, developed countries to assist the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). Additionally, the study seeks to see if this assistance has been and can be parlayed into growth and investment for the HIPCs.