On the role of aid in *The great escape*

Abstract

This article reviews and evaluates Angus Deaton’s critique of international aid, which is based on the premise that giving aid to certain countries hampers their fight against poverty and may even worsen it. It argues that although aid may have been captured by local elites and wasted in some instances, this isn’t a general consequence of foreign aid and that aid can be beneficial when governments genuinely care about reducing poverty. The article also questions the validity of the aid curse hypothesis, which postulates that aid can be detrimental to economic growth, and presents evidence suggesting that aid can promote economic growth. It challenges the idea that aid should be withheld from countries with poor governance and emphasizes the importance of long-term support for institutional development in fragile states to help them overcome poverty traps. – AI-generated abstract.