The Philanthropy We Need

There seems to be something in the DNA of traditional foreign-aid programs that makes them of greater benefit to the benefactors and regimes in the developing world than to the poor. Very little development has resulted from the trillions of dollars the West has invested in foreign aid over the past half century, as development economists such as the late Peter Bauer and William Easterly have ably pointed out. Some initiatives have helped people, of course, butZambian economist Dambisa Moyo argues that it has actually done harm and should be abandoned (though charity will need to continue). After all, many countries with a long history of receiving aid remain immersed in poverty, while other countries became prosperous without such “aid.” For instance, recent market-based reforms have lifted millions out of poverty in India and China.