The Economics Of International Development Foreign Aid Versus Freedom For The World S Poor

Foreign aid and overseas military intervention have been important and controversial political topics for over a decade. The government’s controversial target to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid has been widely welcomed by some, but strongly criticised by others. Furthermore, the controversy of the Iraq war rumbles on, even today. This is all happening amongst much instability in many parts of the world. In this short book, a number of authors challenge the assumption that we can bring about economic development and promote liberal democracies through direct foreign intervention – whether economic or military intervention. The lead author, William Easterly, drawing on his wide experience at the World Bank and as an academic, is a renowned sceptic of intervention. He points out that solutions proposed now to the problem of poverty are identical to solutions proposed decades ago – but the plans of rich governments simply do not successfully transform poor countries. Academics Abigail Hall-Blanco and Christian Bjornskov add further context and put forward empirical evidence that backs up Easterly’s argument. Syvlie Aboa-Bradwell draws upon her own practical experience to give examples of how people in poor countries can be assisted to promote their own development. This book is essential reading for students, teachers and all interested in better understanding how to help – and how not to help – the world’s most disadvantaged peoples.

A response to the pressing need to address and clarify the substantial ambiguity within current literature, this edited volume aims to deepen readers’ understanding of the impact of foreign aid on development outcomes based on the latest findings in research over the past decade. Foreign aid has long been seen as one of two extremes: either beneficial or damaging, a blessing or a curse. Consequently, many readers perceive aid’s effectiveness based on the work of scholars who are assessing the impact of aid from one of two antithetical perspectives. This book takes a different approach, shedding light on recent research that can deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between aid and its aftereffects. Drawing from an extensive set of studies that have explored micro and macro impacts of foreign aid for recipient nations, chapter authors highlight more layered and nuanced findings, with a focus on donor characteristics, political motives, and an evaluation of aid projects and their effectiveness, including the differential impact based on type of aid. This volume is the first of its kind to unpack aid as a complex rather than a unitary concept and explore the wide areas of grey that have long enshrouded foreign aid.

Explores the various ways in which the institutions of the global economy might rise to the challenges posed by the twin goals of increasing the pace of global development and alleviating poverty. This book also provides a much-needed analysis of the successes and failures of international institutions in achieving these aims.

Sumner and Mallett review the literature on aid in light of shifts in the aid system and the increasing concentration of the world's poor in middle-income countries. As a consequence, they propose a series of practical, policy relevant options for future development cooperation, with the aim of provoking discussion and informing policy.

The plight of the poorest around the world has been pushed to the forefront of America's international agenda for the first time in many years by the war on terrorism and the formidable challenges presented by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In March 2002, President Bush announced the creation of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). This bilateral development fund represents an increase of $5 billion per year over current assistance levels and establishes of a new agency to promote growth in reform-oriented developing countries. Amounting to a doubling of U.S. bilateral development aid—the largest increase in decades -- the MCA offers a critical chance to deliberately shape the face that the United States presents to people in poor nations around the world. This book makes concrete recommendations on crafting a new blueprint for distributing and delivering aid to make the MCA an effective tool, not only in its own right, but also in transforming U.S. foreign aid and strengthening international aid cooperation more generally. The book tackles head on the tension between foreign policy and development goals that chronically afflicts U.S. foreign assistance; the danger of being dismissed as one more instance of the United States going it alone instead of buttressing international cooperation; and the risk of exacerbating confusion among the myriad overlapping U.S. policies, agencies, and programs targeted at developing nations, particularly USAID. In doing so, The Other War draws important lessons from new international development initiatives, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, the mixed record of previous U.S. aid efforts, trends in the U.S. budget for foreign assistance, the agencies currently involved in administering U.S. development policy, and the importance of the relationship between Congress and the executive branch in determining aid outcomes. The MCA holds the promise of substantially increasing U.S. development assistance and pioneering a new era in aid, but the authors caution against creating yet another example of wasted aid that could undermine political support for foreign assistance for decades to come. About the Authors Lael Brainard is director of the Brookings/CGD Project on the Millennium Challenge Account and holds the New Century Chair in Economic Studies and Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Carol Graham is Vice President and Director of the Governance Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, where she also directs the Global Poverty Reduction Initiative. Steven Radelet is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Nigel Purvis is a senior scholar in Foreign Policy, Economic, and Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. Gayle E. Smith is a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and formerly was senior director for African affairs at the National Security Council.

Why is aid contested?. The aid industry defined. How the thinking about aid and international development has evolved. Development projects: rationale and critique. Hard-nosed development: reforms, adjustment, governance. Country-led approaches and donor coordination: can the aid industry let go?. Development's poor cousins: environment, gender, participation, rights. How does the industry knows what works and what doesn't. Challenges for the 21st century

International development cooperation is undergoing a revolution. The authors question how far bilateral and multilateral aid agencies succeed in mainstreaming global issues in their operations and assess how emerging and traditional donors address competing objectives, often with diverging rationales. Cases include Brazil, China and South Africa.