Foreign Aid: $30 Billion May Not Be What You Think It Is

Adam Davidson has an interesting piece in the NYT Magazine on the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of U.S. foreign aid. He discusses various models of aid, noting that none of them has been a clear success. 

In commenting on the issue, the article says in passing that the United States spends $30 billlion a year to help the world's poor. This figure could be misleading. Most readers are probably unaware of the size of the overall budget, therefore they may think that $30 billion involves...