I’m no expert on aid, and clearly it has it’s issues and we should try and decouple it from national security. But let’s not forget that 60% of the world lives on less than $10 a day, and the world’s richest man’s cuts have already cost lives and put millions more at risk.
Should the sector be reformed? Absolutely. But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and punish the world’s most disadvantaged at the same time
Also worth mentioning, NGO’s bend to justify their programs in terms of national security specifically to placate nationalist governments such as Trump’s. Trumps cuts only seek to further advance national interests in aid programs, don’t pretend it’s the other way around.
‘In January, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that U.S. interests would decide how aid is allocated.
Every dollar we spend, every program we fund and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions,” Rubio said. “Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”’
I haven't listened to the podcast episode yet, but just on noticing that the title indicates that it's about Foreign Aid, Cameron Murray, do you have any views about the Aid debate that occurred back in the 2000s between Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly?
We didn’t touch on that in the episode but the more I learn about aid in practice the more it seems that the Easterly view makes more sense. The reality of what works best needs to be discovered via local experimentation in some form.
I’m no expert on aid, and clearly it has it’s issues and we should try and decouple it from national security. But let’s not forget that 60% of the world lives on less than $10 a day, and the world’s richest man’s cuts have already cost lives and put millions more at risk.
Should the sector be reformed? Absolutely. But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and punish the world’s most disadvantaged at the same time
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/15/opinion/foreign-aid-cuts-impact.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4E4.H8Lx.GD39rucUfloD&smid=url-share
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-living-with-less-than-10-int--per-day
Also worth mentioning, NGO’s bend to justify their programs in terms of national security specifically to placate nationalist governments such as Trump’s. Trumps cuts only seek to further advance national interests in aid programs, don’t pretend it’s the other way around.
‘In January, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that U.S. interests would decide how aid is allocated.
Every dollar we spend, every program we fund and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions,” Rubio said. “Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”’
https://theconversation.com/defending-humanitarian-aid-in-terms-of-national-security-obscures-its-real-purpose-252246
I haven't listened to the podcast episode yet, but just on noticing that the title indicates that it's about Foreign Aid, Cameron Murray, do you have any views about the Aid debate that occurred back in the 2000s between Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly?
We didn’t touch on that in the episode but the more I learn about aid in practice the more it seems that the Easterly view makes more sense. The reality of what works best needs to be discovered via local experimentation in some form.