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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 129
World Bank, IMF, USAID and Food for Peace.
US foreign aid began with the creation of the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) which were created as a result of the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference at the end of
World War II (WW II). The original purpose of the World Bank was to provide WW II
reconstruction financing for Europe. After only four loans the lending priorities of the Bank were
shifted to the third world. According to the Bank, its new “mission is to fight poverty and
improve the living standards of people in developing countries.”
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With the Bank priorities
changing so quickly after its inception, the original intent of the organization is brought into
question. Since its inception, the World Bank has lent over $500 billion to low and medium
income countries.
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Currently the bank lends out approximately $20 billion a year to developing
nations.
The cash reserves of the World Bank come from its member nations, which currently
number 184.
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Additional reserves are raised by selling bonds. “The member countries
technically own the Bank and determine its key strategies, policies, lending, and membership.”
Members of the World Bank must also be members of the IMF.
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“The United States is the
bank's largest shareholder” and “[t]he bank traditionally has had an American president.”
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The IMF also makes loans to member nations although its primary purpose is “to shorten
the duration and lessen the degree of disequilibrium in the international balances of payments of
members.” There is currently approximately $90 billion in outstanding loans. The majority of
IMF funds come from quota (capital) subscriptions of the member nations. The quota (capital)
subscription is based on the size of the nations economy. The US pays the largest share of quota
(capital), approximately 17.5%.
In 1961 as a result of the Foreign Assistance Act, USAID was established. The official
purpose of USAID is to administer foreign economic assistance programs. From the end of WW
II through 1979, the US provided $201.8 billion in foreign aid;
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this included military aid. From
1980 through 2000, the US provided $226.4 billion in economic and humanitarian aid alone.
This includes among others: USAID expenditures under the Foreign Assistance Act, Food for
Peace, Peace Corps and paid-in subscriptions to international financial institutions such as the
World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
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This would be a monumental
achievement if it were not for the fact that US foreign aid has failed miserably at helping the
world's poor.
US foreign aid has had devastating effects on the people of third world countries.
According to James Bovard, a free-lance writer who has written on foreign aid for the Wall
Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and other publications, US foreign aid “has often encouraged
the recipient governments' worst tendencies—helping to underwrite programs and policies that
have starved thousands of people and derailed struggling economies.” “In agriculture, in
economic planning, in food assistance, U.S. foreign aid has routinely failed to benefit the foreign
poor” and has “routinely went to countries pursuing policies destined to turn them into
permanent economic cripples.” “Instead of breaking the 'endless cycle of poverty,' foreign aid
has become the opiate of the Third World. [US] AID and other donors have encouraged Third
World governments to rely on handouts instead of on themselves for development.”
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The least of the problems have been government officials that have lined their pockets
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