The Real Aid for Trade Switch

Published May 20, 2009

In 1968, Lester Pearson's commission proposed the idea of 0.7 per cent of GDP as aid, based on Marshall Plan experience and the dominant economic idea of the time around a "financing gap."

However, it hasn't worked. Most African countries are poorer today than they were when the report came out 40 years ago. Over $1 trillion in aid has been absorbed into Africa, with few signs of the structural change...