Before taking a good look at the organization, accomplishments, and efficiency of international aid agencies I thought that the UN, World Bank, IMF, and other agencies were doing a great job -- I was wrong.
There is almost no feedback from the bottom. There is minimal monitoring of project progress and outcomes. There is limited individual accountability - collective responsibility shifts blame and weakens the incentive to perform well. There is lack of visibility and quality educational material.
At the center of these problems is the fact that the money spent (input) is more important rather than the cost-effective initiatives that really benefit the poor (output). Politicians and aid bureaucrats react passively to dramatic headlines, utopian ideals, and ambitious global-objectives rather than according to where the scarce aid budget will benefit the most people. The poor people suffer because of politics!
Is it that this is the only way to receive donor's money, or simply because of our ignorance and political demagoguery? Should the advent of aid money really be in the hands of politicians? Doesn't democratic public policy, as derived from utilitarianism, prescribe that we must do the best we can with limited resources? The best to most - because we're all equal, right?
The hypocracy in foreign aid seems endless...
These arguments and examples are excerpts from: "The White Man's Burden" by William Easterly (2006)
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