Trap or Treat
"Into a crowded field of books about the problems with development aid comes, ‘The Aid Trap’ By Glenn Hubbard and William Duggan. Columbia University Press.
The two academics are disappointed by the failure of the existing system of aid to foster economic development in poor countries. But rather than advocating getting rid of the system altogether, they propose reorienting it to concentrate on promoting private businesses in countries. This, they argue, has been the key to economic development in countries that have grown fast, but it is only rarely the principal focus of development aid.
This is all sensible stuff. But as the authors well recognize, the political economy of a well-entrenched aid business will not welcome the sort of shake-up they have in mind.
It should interest those who are convinced by the conclusions of the critics of aid, but remain disappointed by the poverty of their prescriptions."
Excerpts from Pg. 146
