To the extent that foreign aid money buys whatever it buys, it would also have to depend on the total GDP and per capita GDP of the recipient country. Assuming diminishing marginal utility of money, giving $1 per capita to Britain would not buy as much as $1 per capita to Malawi.
Of course, it doesn't depend just on the utility of money, but also on existing attitudes toward the U.S. But still, I'm not sure what we're trying to buy is "love" or any other particular attitude in the population of the recipient country. I think we are trying to buy specific outcomes in some cases, and general charity in other cases. For example, Israel might be our ally anyway, but that ally is more powerful (and perhaps more survivable) with our aid. The huge aid package for Egypt is in part a purchase, in exchange for which we got the Camp David peace treaty of 1979, which both enhanced the safety of our ally (Israel) by reducing the number of its enemies by one, and enhanced our security by giving us better relations with the country in possession of the Suez Canal. Neither of these is "love" -- but we still have access to the Suez Canal, and Israel still has something approximating peace on its southwestern border. The same holds for other countries as well. During the Cold War, aid to some Latin American countries enabled them to resist Communist forces (which were uaully given aid by, if not run by, the USSR). Aid to Ukraine and Khazakhstan was essentially the purchase of their nuclear disarmament. With food aid to African countries, what we're "buying" is the same sort of thing people buy when they give money to feed the homeless. So no, we are not receiving "love" -- but that's not what we were trying to buy. --Robert Book > I don't think money buys love. We give a lot of money to Egypt, and it > isn't clear that we get any love. We also give a ton of money to > Israel and it isn't really clear that they feel closer to us than they > would otherwise. > > m > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: fabio guillermo rojas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Saturday, December 14, 2002 11:40 pm > Subject: Foreign aid - can money buy love? > > > > > Somebody said foreign aid might be justified if it increased the > > securityof the US through supporting a steadfast ally. Has > > anybody ever figured > > out foreign aid trade offs? > > > > For example, > > > > What has the greatest effect on the annual number of American deaths > > due to political violence (wars, terrorism, civil wars)? > > > > - $1 million spent on the army/navy/etc. > > - $1 million given to the government of a foreign nation > > - $1 million spent on covert forces > > - $1 million spend on pro-American propaganda > > > > > > Another question: how much do you have to spend to get a > > dependable US ally? > > > > How much do you have to spend per person before 50% of a > > population is > > pro-US? > > > > What does the curve mapping per capita US foreign aid to % population > > pro-US look like? > > > > Does money buy love? > > > > Fabio
