Developing crisis: why foreign aid needs an overhaul

At the end of January, Donald Trump’s administration announced that all work carried out by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would stop immediately. This week, secretary of state Marco Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programmes had been cancelled. Across Europe, governments are cutting foreign aid budgets, too. What caused the aid recession? And what should aid money really be used for? Hosts: Ethan Wu and Mike Bird. Guests: The Economist’s Cerian Richmond Jones; and Professor Stefan Dercon of the University of Oxford. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.