Tim,
Please try to research the subject a bit more and you will find that apart of being quite unwilling to give foreign aid at others level, it is used for political ends and corporate profits. Regarding US financial situation, Clinton actually did a great job to create a fiscally sound foundation, to deal with the US deficits. That work is gone now and US has never been in a worse situation. If it were any other country in the world, it would be declared in bankruptcy and it is only able to continue, because the disastrous world wide implications of such a move. Since Bush is not doing anything about it and his best advisers left him due to the inaction, nobody knows where it will end. The heavy slide of the dollar is a result of inaction, not a thoughtful financial policy. It is actually so bad that responsible American economists do not want to debate, afraid of trigger a run on the US economy. They do not see that it already begun, with major countries unloading their dollars. Anyway, this is not fun to talk about and pointless, since nobody is going to do something about it yet. Hakan At 21:00 16/08/2005, you wrote:
Hakan, It really amounts to aid with no strings attached. But even then there must be measures put in place to ensure accountability such as progress reports, inspections, etc. In an indirect way, when the US imports goods and services that translates into foreign aid. The US has a huge trade imbalance. The US also has considerable foreign direct investment in PP&E that has got to help the local economy. This may sound snippy but I suppose much of this activity can be interpreted as exploitation. Tim Schlueter -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Hakan Falk Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 1:40 PM To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: RE: [Biofuel] The New Blue States/Country Tim, Nothing really, neither size or methods, but it is a matter of using foreign aid as a part of foreign policies and control. US is mixing their foreign policy goals and corporate profits, with the way to distribute foreign aid. 1. US is selective and set the rules for their foreign aid, as an instrument to enhance their foreign policy goals. The countries I mentioned refrain from mixing foreign policy goals and only look at the needs. 2. US is demanding that the money is spent with US companies and it is only if there are no US suppliers available, that the money can be spent somewhere else. This means that they short circuit any true bidding process, with lowest price and suitability as parameters. The countries that I mentioned, allow for an efficient purchasing process, with price/performance as the only measurement. This often means "more for the money". Sometimes and for unique needs, all the countries will directly deliver produce as aid. The over riding factor should always be what is best for the recipient and not the convenience of the donor or donor related corporations.
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