Is foreign aid a better way to help poor countries than trade?

Question

Is foreign aid a better way to help poor countries than trade?

My opinion is that trade is actually better because we are supplying countries with exact products other than money which some people may never see. What are your opinons Yahoo community?

Answer 1

The best way to help poor countries is by providing individuals with micro-loans to start mini-businesses. It has been proven to work the best and those individuals are usually more apt to pay it back than the average American pays back a credit card. A professor from Bangladesh started this process in his country, using his own money to give loans and it has grown into a worldwide program all over world in developing countries. He won a Nobel Prize for it.

Answer 2

Of course trade is better... but what's best is governments allowing their people free enterprise. I saw a great John Stossel special once about Africa and foreign aid, and how the governments there actually destroy their people's businesses if they grow too much! That's outrageous... And on top of that, goods sent by the US and other nations as foreign aid, wind up on the black market or go directly to the politicians and people in charge (not to the common people.) Each government has to look out for it's own people, but the problem is that in a lot of 3rd world countries, the government is very corrupt and only looks after their own well being, not the people's.

Answer 3

Trade builds economies and increases skills and creates jobs. Pure loans or gifts invite theft and corruption, and cost more both for the giver and the intended receiver who doesn't receive. Even a compromise/hybrid could make profit for the producer and remain cheap for the receiver and still avoid pure grants, pure food gifts, or loans:

Wouldn't the rich partner always have the power to provide steeply discounted subsidized goods as a form of aid to the poor partner? If the poor partner is to repay all or part, this could be initiated with a slow schedule for returning the product over time to the fair market price.

Answer 4

Foreign aid is a bandaid measure meant to keep people from dying. It really doesn't work. A few corrupt politicians pocket the aid and let the people rot. Trade is better. It creates jobs. Jobs give people a way to take care of themselves independent of the government.

Answer 5

I agree that trade is better than direct aid, but both are necessary to help the economies in developing countries, and both have their drawbacks.

The big problem with direct aid is corruption and the big problem with trade is exploitation. Most of us in the developed world condemn the corruption which filters off around 90% of direct aid before it reaches the needed, but we seldom react against trading exploitation which filters 90% of profits before it reaches the needy. When we can overcome human greed and distribute the benefits of aid and trade fairly, we will begin to see the huge gap between the rich and the poor reducing.

Answer 6

The best help is a hand up approach. Help people start up their own businesses there.

Answer 7

Yeah, and welfare is a better way to help poor people than employment.