As unemployment and inflation continue to rise, politicians will no doubt set their sights on U.S. foreign aid programs as a likely target for budget cuts. But U.S. government assistance to other countries, managed by the Agency for International Development (AID), only amounts to slightly more than one cent out of each federal budget dollar.
In 1978, among the leading 17 non-communist countries providing aid, the U.S. stood 13th in the amount provided in relation to the gross national product (GNP). U.S. foreign aid accounts for one-quarter of one per cent of our GNP--considerably less than what we spend for alcoholic beverages, or pet food, or cosmetics, or toilet articles each year. Americans feeling an economic pinch would be wiser to target runaway military spending, which takes a lion's share of federal money.
Many specialists in Third World affairs have serious questions about the alleged benefits of American aid, arguing that structural change in the recipient countries rather than a larger dole is necessary. They also point out that most U.S. aid takes the form of credit which must be used to purchase U.S. products. AID itself argues this point positively: "One of the misconceptions about foreign aid is that the money appropriated is spent overseas and there is no return." Actually, AID explains, more than 70 cents of every aid dollar committed for goods and services is spent in the U.S., "thus creating and maintaining jobs for Americans. With regard to aid commodities alone, "more than 90 per cent are bought in the U.S." "Jobs for Americans" is always the official political rationale; it would seem cruder to mention profits for the large conglomerates which dominate the export trade.
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