Overseas economic aid... Does it ever work?
Discussion
Overseas aid works, but not in the way that many people hope it would. When you help a government they reciprocate the favour by buying things you make, like medicines, machinery and weapons using their resources at a discounted rate, such as oil, minerals and commodities.
But does the average poor person in need of the aid get helped? Not nearly as much as they probably need.
Right now China is going into Africa and making friends with anyone they can to get their hands on the abundant resources. Rebuilding the relationship we had with former European & British Colonies seems like a smart move.
But does the average poor person in need of the aid get helped? Not nearly as much as they probably need.
Right now China is going into Africa and making friends with anyone they can to get their hands on the abundant resources. Rebuilding the relationship we had with former European & British Colonies seems like a smart move.
Overseas aid is too often a euphemism for trade inducement, which in turn is a euphemism for bribes. Overseas aid sounds better though.
If you want to donate money get on an aeroplane and go and see these places. You can then choose who you would like to donate to, and ensure that 100% of whatever you choose to give reaches the intended target rather than some derisory % of the number you first thought of. This applies whether that be through a charitable donation in the UK, or "overseas aid".
If you want to donate money get on an aeroplane and go and see these places. You can then choose who you would like to donate to, and ensure that 100% of whatever you choose to give reaches the intended target rather than some derisory % of the number you first thought of. This applies whether that be through a charitable donation in the UK, or "overseas aid".
BiggusLaddus said:
JMGS4 said:
2) eliminate tribalism
Maybe after we've cracked it in this country we can tell Africa how we did it!Also, Phers who read Private Eye will be well-versed in the nonsense that was the Commonwealth Development Corporation; a government aid agency set up to fund development projects in developing countries which could not access conventional sources of credit; agriculture and infrastructure usually. A few years ago New Labour thought it was a prime candidate for being moved into the private sector, so it was sold to the former civil servants who had run it for the equivalent of 2 ha'pennys, a button and a toot on the ragman's trumpet.
Not only have these pocket-lining twerps trousered brobdingnagian quantities of taxpayers' money in 'fees' and 'profit', they've also moved large quantities of investment cash(taxpayers' money again) from 'low return investments' like agriculture and infrastructure, to more lucrative things like shopping centres, hotels and other forms of real estate, none of which would have any problem being financed commercially. Their place up against the wall when the revolution comes is definitely booked; never mind foreign aid breeding corruption overseas, it breeds it right here in Blighty.
Not only have these pocket-lining twerps trousered brobdingnagian quantities of taxpayers' money in 'fees' and 'profit', they've also moved large quantities of investment cash(taxpayers' money again) from 'low return investments' like agriculture and infrastructure, to more lucrative things like shopping centres, hotels and other forms of real estate, none of which would have any problem being financed commercially. Their place up against the wall when the revolution comes is definitely booked; never mind foreign aid breeding corruption overseas, it breeds it right here in Blighty.
stigmundfreud said:
1bn raised -> supplier -> sub contractor a -> sub contractor b -> sub contractor c -> sub contractor d -> sub contractor e -> sub contractor f -> sub contractor g -> sub contractor h -> sub contractor i -> 200k left
As a sub contractor who has been at the bottom of the pile I would like to say thank you.Also I think I can safely say Siemens and GE are willing to say thank you.
Also the two brothers who own CEF thank you for your aid.
Edited by elster on Monday 21st September 06:34
For the first time in my life, I e-mailed the Conservative party to challenge this Policy. Finally got a reply today.
"I am writing on behalf of David Cameron to thank you for your e-mail about foreign aid. I am sorry for the delay in my reply.
It is good of you to make us aware of your concerns. At a time like this, in the middle of such a deep and painful recession, of course it is understandable that some people think we should be cutting back on aid rather than increasing it. Our public finances are in a complete mess and tough decisions do need to be taken about public spending. But taking tough decisions is about doing what is right – not just what is convenient. And that is why we have stood by our pledge to meet the UN target for development spending of 0.7 per cent of GNP by 2013.
There is an incredibly powerful moral case for standing by this pledge. People are facing huge difficulties in this country during the downturn and we are absolutely focused on that. But we also need to remember that there are still billions of people in the world today who have only a fraction of what we have here in the UK . Globally, 9.2 million children die before the age of five each year. Two million die on the day they are born. 72 million children are missing out on an education. And, every day, 30,000 children die from easily-preventable diseases. It is our responsibility to help these people as well.
We have also made this decision for hard-headed, practical reasons. It is overwhelmingly in Britain’s material interest to help to build a more stable and prosperous world. We are not going to come through this recession by turning in ourselves, or by looking for cheap fixes at the expense of our neighbours or faraway friends. Just as we are all part of One Nation here in Britain, so we need to understand that Britain is itself part of One World, where famines, crises, state failure and war in different parts of the planet can have effects on countries many thousands of miles away. So increasing foreign aid is not just a moral issue for us. It is also about serving the national interest in this new, interconnected and changing world.
You are right that we need a much more hard-headed attitude to the way development money is spent. A huge amount of aid is lost to corruption or misplaced. And it is ludicrous that we are still giving money to China when it can afford to spend £20 billion on hosting the Olympics.
So a future Conservative Government would have a different approach. Through our MyAid proposal, British people would be able to have a say on how part of the aid budget is spent. We will put all our aid spending on the internet so that it is open to public scrutiny. We will also review which countries are receiving aid from Britain – and which shouldn’t get any more. And we will pioneer a new results-based approach to the distribution of aid. If aid isn’t working properly somewhere or not producing results we will stop giving it out. Because we understand that spending more money on development is not an end in itself, but a means to end. We need to make sure that our aid delivers more for less."
So there goes a few billion of taxpayers money!
"I am writing on behalf of David Cameron to thank you for your e-mail about foreign aid. I am sorry for the delay in my reply.
It is good of you to make us aware of your concerns. At a time like this, in the middle of such a deep and painful recession, of course it is understandable that some people think we should be cutting back on aid rather than increasing it. Our public finances are in a complete mess and tough decisions do need to be taken about public spending. But taking tough decisions is about doing what is right – not just what is convenient. And that is why we have stood by our pledge to meet the UN target for development spending of 0.7 per cent of GNP by 2013.
There is an incredibly powerful moral case for standing by this pledge. People are facing huge difficulties in this country during the downturn and we are absolutely focused on that. But we also need to remember that there are still billions of people in the world today who have only a fraction of what we have here in the UK . Globally, 9.2 million children die before the age of five each year. Two million die on the day they are born. 72 million children are missing out on an education. And, every day, 30,000 children die from easily-preventable diseases. It is our responsibility to help these people as well.
We have also made this decision for hard-headed, practical reasons. It is overwhelmingly in Britain’s material interest to help to build a more stable and prosperous world. We are not going to come through this recession by turning in ourselves, or by looking for cheap fixes at the expense of our neighbours or faraway friends. Just as we are all part of One Nation here in Britain, so we need to understand that Britain is itself part of One World, where famines, crises, state failure and war in different parts of the planet can have effects on countries many thousands of miles away. So increasing foreign aid is not just a moral issue for us. It is also about serving the national interest in this new, interconnected and changing world.
You are right that we need a much more hard-headed attitude to the way development money is spent. A huge amount of aid is lost to corruption or misplaced. And it is ludicrous that we are still giving money to China when it can afford to spend £20 billion on hosting the Olympics.
So a future Conservative Government would have a different approach. Through our MyAid proposal, British people would be able to have a say on how part of the aid budget is spent. We will put all our aid spending on the internet so that it is open to public scrutiny. We will also review which countries are receiving aid from Britain – and which shouldn’t get any more. And we will pioneer a new results-based approach to the distribution of aid. If aid isn’t working properly somewhere or not producing results we will stop giving it out. Because we understand that spending more money on development is not an end in itself, but a means to end. We need to make sure that our aid delivers more for less."
So there goes a few billion of taxpayers money!
v telling photos in the sunday times this week - shell etc refinerys in africa taking billions of pounds of natural resources out yet somehow africa doesnt get any money ( well the people who need it ).
cant we just help build a massive solar energy plant over all of africa and split the cash and energy 50 50 all problems sorted
cant we just help build a massive solar energy plant over all of africa and split the cash and energy 50 50 all problems sorted
We have all the diamond mines in the world give us money.
http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/teachers/cur...
And everything else.
http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/teachers/cur...
And everything else.
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