Is Foreign Aid Working?

Here is an interesting debate on foreign aid between Hilary Benn, the British secretary of state for international development, and William Easterly, a critic of direct aid to recipient governments, such as Ethiopia, with no strings attached. I think Easterly makes a lot more sense than Benn. If donor governments are serious about reducing poverty in poor countries, the first and the best thing they should do is to stop their direct budget support to recipient governments. Easterly's argument for how success in foreign aid should be measured is also more persuasive.