Aid
Definition: Aid involves economic assistance from one country to another. Usually aid refers to assistance from the developed world to LDCs - less developed countries
Aid can take various forms:
- Debt Relief - Forgiving debt can save LDCs annual interest payments and leave them more resources for internal investment
- Direct AID- giving food, money and health care supplies directly to the countries in need
- Indirect Aid. Financing the building of infrastructure and communication networks which enable countries to develop
- Cheap Finance. Schemes like Micro aid finance give affordable loans so that countries can benefit from more local entrepreneurship
- Tied Aid. Aid which is dependent on recipricol benefits such as agreeing to buy goods and services from the donar country.
- Untied Aid. Aid given without any strings attached.
- Bilateral aid. Aid given directly from one country to another
- Multilateral aid. Aid given from one country to an international organisation which is then distributed to a variety of different countries. For example, the Red Cross and Oxfam.
The Disputed Effectiveness of Aid
- Aid to poor countries is a controversial issue. Supporters argue targetted aid can help countries deal with natural disasters and improve infrastructure.
- Critics of Aid argue that it can either encourage aid dependency or be misused and misdirected
- The effectiveness of aid depends on how it is managed and how it is distributed.
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