Stand by for the latest fashion in aid to the Third World – using it to help the world's poorest people. Hang on, you might justifiably protest. Isn't that what aid has always been supposed to do? In theory, yes. In practice, usually not.
I am not talking about the well-known misuse of aid – whether it is lavished on prestige projects like roads or dams (which gratify donor and recipient governments, but do little for the really poor), or used primarily to promote business at home (over half of US aid is tied to the buying of American goods or services in exchange), or lost through corruption or misappropriation (though this is not confined to poor countries: much of the aid provided for the victims of Hurricane Katrina did not reach them).
