Leaders| The death of giving
The demise of foreign aid offers an opportunity
Donors should focus on what works. Much aid currently does not
USAID bags inside a grave
image: Getty Images/Matt Chase
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.