[PEN-L:5233] Re: Foreign Aid

[Colin Danby <danby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The word "aid" is used for a lot of different kinds of transfers.  Even
if you focus on U.S.-provided "aid," (and omit the overtly military
parts) you have to distinguish at least:

  1. direct transfers to other governments
  2. project-based assistance that USAID administers
  3. quasi-commercial food shipments of the PL480 Title I variety
  4. disaster relief
  5. funding to various interantional and multilateral organizations.

U.S.-provided aid is a hodgepodge of different programs started and
modified at various times to satisfy various constituencies and purposes,
with no overriding logic.  Earlier posts by Patrick Bond and Paul
Altesman show some of what can be done in unpacking aid and focusing
the critique.  Groups like Food First, D-GAP, Oxfam, Interfaith
Action for Economic Justice, and AFSC have done a lot of good work
on this issue over the years.

Much of the politics around aid rests on a popular myth that foreign
aid is (1) a large part of the federal budget and (2) consists of
soft-headed giveaways.  A poll published by the NYT some months back
found, if memory serves, a lot of people identifying aid as one of the
largest components of the U.S. federal budget, most putting its share
above ten percent, and very few getting close to the right answer of
about one percent.  (This may help explain why Republicans get elected --
a lot of people believe that if you cut foreign aid, you could lower
taxes and still balance the budget.)  Republican attacks on aid to Africa
and soft-loan programs -- tiny parts of the total aid budget -- might
be understood as efforts to foster this myth.

Colin Danby