The Abuses of Aid

by Jayati Ghosh, Triplecrisis.com Foreign aid has been getting a bad press in the past year – and not without reason. For a long time bilateral aid in particular has been seen as too small and scattered, too politically motivated, too supportive of the interests of donors (especially of the business interests of donor countries) rather than oriented to real  benefits for intended recipients. Now, governments of poor developing countries that were earlier grateful for any crumbs from the rich countries’ table are less welcoming, especially of aid that comes tied to various economic and political strings. The improvement in their terms of trade over the past six years, as well as the emergence of new markets and new sources of aid and investment from other emerging nations and oil-exporting countries, have all played a role in this changed perception. Read more...