Greater Aid as the Panacea to Third World Development Challenges: a Critical Analysis

Abstract

The effectiveness of the aid programs in developing countries have been questioned by development scholars and researchers leading to debates on the plausibility of the view that grater aid is the panacea to third world development challenges.  While a few scholars have argued for the relevance of aid in the process of development, dissident economist such as Bauer and  Friedman have argued against the ineffectiveness of these development aid programs. In their opinion, what aid really translates to is “…an excellent method for transferring money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries”. The main trust of this paper therefore, is to critically analyze all contending debates and arguments on the subject of aid / grater aid debate, with the view to determining the plausibility of the greater aid argument via traditional methods of rational critical analysis in philosophy and the conceptual clarification of relevant literature and arguments in related library and archival materials. In adopting the two gap model and the poverty-trap model as major frameworks of analysis for the study, the paper identified reasons why there is still no consensus on whether greater aid can indeed fuel growth at the macroeconomic level. All models employed for studies on aid tend to turn out different results. The various methods used for their analysis were also found wanting when subjected to sensitivity tests. This study therefore recommends that contemporary researchers subscribe to current trends of research geared towards identifying country specific factors responsible for the success or failure of aid in promoting growth.

Keywords: Development Challenges, Greater Aid, Ineffectiveness, Macroeconomic Level, Poverty -Trap Model, Two-Gap Model,