Can the end of ‘foreign aid’ be the beginning of global public investment?

Jayati Ghosh

Development Policy Review, 2025, vol. 43, issue 5

Abstract: Motivation Ongoing and likely future cuts in foreign aid suggest that the basic model of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is effectively dead. The question is what can replace it. Purpose To critique the past and now dying system of ODA, and consider how countries can meet ongoing global challenges in an effective manner, in crucial areas such as poverty and hunger reduction, addressing the impacts of climate change and seeking to mitigate it, dealing with public health emergencies, etc. Approach and Methods This is a qualitative assessment, using some empirical data from secondary sources. Findings There were many flaws with the ODA system, with dwindling foreign aid, and donors’ decisions based on geopolitical considerations. Now it is time to reconsider the conceptual and practical basis of ODA to create a new paradigm of fiscal policy for the 21st century based on Global Public Investment. In this model, countries commit to pool resources and efforts towards common goals, especially in areas that address pressing global issues such as climate change, pollution, nutrition and health.

Date: 2025
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