Newell-Fonda High School
Newell, Iowa
Teacher: Mrs. Doonan
Foreign Aid
By Alex Kier
12th grade
The
United States gives more foreign aid a year then any other country.
The United States is the leader of all the other countries who donate to
foreign aid giving an estimated $10 billion a year.
Yet still get criticized for being last on the list of percentage given,
which is .11 percent. The country
that gives the highest percentage of their Gross National Product (GNP) is
Denmark, and they give $1.6 billion. Since
World War II the United States has given more then $1 trillion.
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is an excellent idea.
It allows the countries donating to foreign aid see what the money is to
be used for. It also helps to eliminate countries that are too corrupt so money
is not wasted. The countries that want to receive foreign aid have to write
proposals for it and explain how the money will be used; if the money is not
used as stated on the proposal, those countries can be dropped from the MCA.
The United States cannot afford to give more to foreign aid since they
are too far in debt and have to take care of their own citizens.
Yes,
more money towards foreign aid can help stop or slow down terrorism, end poverty
and hunger, and so on. It could put
kids through school and help them get an education.
It could stop the suffering and help stop the spread of deadly diseases
like AIDS and HIV.
The
more money that the United States gives to foreign aid the farther they get in
debt. The United States is
currently $6.4 trillion in debt that number grows by $1.3 billion a day
according to www.brillig.com/debt_clock/.
It would cost every American roughly $22,000 to get America out of debt.
If the United States gave more to foreign aid, then taxes would go up
making many people unhappy. The United States is in a period of recession, and
it would not make any sense to help out other countries by giving more money
instead of helping themselves. Third
world countries aren’t the only poverty stricken countries; the United States
has homeless, poor, hungry, and uneducated so why should they give more to
foreign countries than they should themselves.
Just because the United States is bigger and earns more money than any
other country doesn’t mean they should carry the load.
The only reason the United States should give more is to fight terrorism.
Eighty One percent of Americans support increasing foreign aid spending
to fight terrorism. The typical
American would like to spend one dollar on foreign aid for every three dollars
spent on defense.
Another
reason why the United States should not give more is because none of the money
goes into investment. According to Peter Boone, “ All it does is increase
consumption
Foreign
aid doesn’t work as well as many people think.
If it did, then why are so many countries doing so poorly or even getting
worse. For example, expected life
spans in Africa and in many Latin American and Asian countries are no better off
now than they were in the 1960s. AIDS
and HIV are spreading rapidly through Africa like a wildfire and doesn’t seem
to be slowing, so why should the U.S. use the extra money on other countries
when they could use the money. Col.
Stanislav Lunev stated, “In the time of this war on terrorism we
simply cannot afford to spend more money in foreign aid to nations that will not
even think of paying it back. America desperately needs this money for itself,
to realize our political, economic, social and military programs, which were
allowed to deteriorate so much during the last decade.”
The
more the United States spends on foreign aid, the worse its debt gets.
When the economy is bad, it doesn’t make much sense to spend more.
The money could be used to build up the military to fight the War on
Terrorism, help the homeless, feed the needy, and so on in America. America should not just bump up the spending to make them
look like the good guys. America
cannot spend the money that they don’t have and expect it to get repaid.
The MCA is better than donating more to foreign aid because the money
that is to be given to other countries will come in the form of grants instead
of loans that
Work Cited
Lunev,
Col. Stanislav “America Doesn’t
Need to Increase Foreign Aid.”
2
April 1996. 8 Jan. 2003 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/4/1/192451.shtml
Bartlett,
Burce “Why Foreign Aid Doesn’t Work.”
21 May 1997. 8 Jan. 2003 http://www.ncpa.org/pd/pdint133.html
Questions
Q1-
President Bush claimed that most funds for development do not come from
international aid. He mentions
three things that do fund development. What
are they?
A-
Domestic capital, foreign investment, and trade.
Q2-
President Bush reminded his audience that successful development in a third
world country requires more than funds.
What two items did he mention in this regard?
A-
Education and health care.
Q3-
When is money sometimes counterproductive, according to President Bush?
A-
When nations refuse to enact sound policies.
Q4-
Describe the Millennium Challenge Account and include in your description what
is anticipated from donors and recipient.
A-
The goal is to provide people in developing nations the tools they need to seize
the opportunities of the global economy. The
donors which are non poverty stricken countries will donate money and assistance
to the recipients (third world countries) in return the recipients also have to
try to make things better they can’t just rely on the donors.
Q5-
What are the three broad standards that President Bush expects the leaders of
the developing nations to adopt?
A-
The countries must rule justly, invest in their
people, and encourage economic freedom.
Q6- Describe President Bush’s challenge to development banks and
explain why or why not you favor it.
A- He wants them to provide up to half of the funds devoted to poor
nations in the form of grants, rather than loans.
I favor this because then the taxpayers don’t have to pay for the
unpaid loans.
Q7-
What percentage of our national income (GNP) do you think the United
States government committed to foreign aid in 2002?
A-
Thought 5%, Found .1%
Q8-
Describe and defend a “Me First” attitude.
A-
We as Americans need to take care of ourselves and are situations first.
Then we can focus on the other needy countries.
If we do not help ourselves, we cannot help other countries.
Q9-
Describe and defend a “Mutual Benefit” attitude. It’s a give and take relationship.
A-
We help other countries by giving them money and supplies but in return they
have to try to make there country better. They
may also crack down on terrorism and other national threats.
Q10-
Describe three unsuccessful foreign aid programs operated by the U.S government
or private American citizens.
A-Food For Peace, Food
For Work, and Food For Peace (inadequate)
Q11-
Describe three successful foreign aid programs operated by the U.S. government
or private American citizens.
A- The Marshall Plan, The Four Point Plan, and AID (inadequate)
Q12-
Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, believes we
can do both; take care of our own people and lend a helping hand to citizens of
less developed countries. Explain
why you think we can or cannot offer aid to both.
A-
We can do this because we have been doing it for years.
We have been able to provide for our own people and give a percentage of
our GNP to other countries.
Q13-
What do you think about Mr. Radelet’s assertion that “the administration is
leaning towards a system in which eligible countries would write proposals (or
business plans) describing their objectives and strategy, how they would use the
money, the benchmarks used for evaluation. Giving recipient countries this
responsibility is a revolutionary change in US foreign assistance.”?
A-
I think it is a good idea, they can let us know what they are planning to do and
spend the money. If they don’t
follow through or we don’t believe what they are doing is going to work or
against policies, we can cut them off.
Q14- Which of Mr. Radelet’s three concerns regarding the MCA
concerns you and why?
(a)
As more countries in this income range become eligible, there will be fewer MCA
funds available for the poorest countries that are implementing sound
development strategies.
(b) the make-or-break requirement may unnecessarily eliminate some countries.
(c)
the separation of US foreign assistance into two agencies could lead to a lack
of coordination and overlapping functions.
A- His first concern (a) because middle-income countries don’t
need the assistance that low income countries need. We don’t need to spend the extra money on a country that
doesn’t need it.
Q15-
There is evidence of an increase in negative world opinion towards U.S. foreign
policy, not necessarily the American people. To counter this negative perception
of the U.S. some people want the U.S. to concentrate more on weapons of mass
assistance (WMA) and less on weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Please comment.
A-
I am for concentrating on WMD’s because we are in a war with terrorism, and it
is only a matter of time before one is used against us.
Q16-
What does the World Bank recommend as the United State’s “just and
appropriate share” to reach the Millennium Development Goals by
2015? Do you think our citizens can
afford that kind of increase? Defend your views.
A- Because of the United States size and wealth they think we
should get another $10-$15 billion annually.
I don’t believe we can afford to give that much more.
The U.S.’s economy is weak right now and that is too much money to give
while in this condition.
Q17- What do you think about the request of Faith Action for
People Centered Development Policy’s request that tax dollars be used to fund,
not only government-sponsored foreign aid programs, but “that
funds also go to NGOs and grassroots organizations.”?
A-
I don’t think we should use our money to fund non-government programs.
Q18-
How many countries would be affected positively by health-related investments
according to the Commission on Macro-economics and Health (CMH)?
A- 83
Q19- According to the CMH, how much would be gained annually
between 2015-2020 due to saved lives and increased economic growth, if an
increased investment were made in global AIDS and other health services?
A- $360 billion
Q20- Use the Internet for your research and name the two
congressmen who introduced H.R. 4524. Give a 2-line synopsis of that bill.
A- Christopher Smith and John LaFalce.
It is a bill that allows President Bush to work with creditors to reduce
the amount of money owed to the United States by other eligible countries.
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