The demise of foreign aid offers an opportunity

Donors should focus on what works. Much aid currently does not

IT is a “criminal organisation”, says Elon Musk. It is “run by a bunch of radical lunatics”, says President Donald Trump. As a prelude to shutting down USAID, America’s main aid agency, the Trump administration has denigrated it in absurd terms. That language may have prompted liberals to assume that all arguments against foreign aid are absurd, too. But some are not. And though the way America is cutting aid is unusually and needlessly chaotic, it is part of a global trend.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The death of foreign aid”

From the March 8th 2025 edition

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