A New Model for Foreign Aid

A sign in the lobby of the British government's Department for International Development (DFID) bears the following bold motto: "Leading the British Government's fight against world poverty."

Since 1997, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has emerged as a top-rated international development organization. The decision to focus on the single goal of fighting poverty is one reason for its success. At the same time, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has grown weaker. Major aid initiatives have been set up outside of USAID, the U.S. military is shouldering a growing share of development and reconstruction work overseas, and a shrinking staff has forced USAID to rely more on private contractors to carry out its work. In reaction to this trend, some American aid experts have called for creating a strengthened, cabinet-level development department, and suggested that DFID could serve as a model.

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Posted by Lauren Keane on February 10, 2009 10:36 AM

Financially Bold Britannia

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout plan still suffers from at least two problems. First, Paulson has yet to explain what he is going to do exactly with all that money. His primary justification was to buy "toxic" mortgages from sinking financial institutions. But the U.S. mortgage crisis has turned into a global credit freeze, and Treasury has yet to explain how its new-found funds will address this far bigger issue. Second, Paulson's plan is still likely to reward those who made the worst mistakes while giving taxpayers little to nothing in return for their investment except a bunch of worthless mortgage assets.

Enter the Brits and the Swedes.

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Posted by Lauren Keane on October 10, 2008 3:57 PM