Hi Rip: there's a lot of myth around this subject - we all tend to believe we're more generous than we really are. So let's have some stats.

There is a time lag in calculating these things and the most recent data I can find in simple graphic form are for 2006, though raw data are available up to 2010. These graphs are still representative of how things stand four years later.

Two ways of looking at it. Absolute amounts, and as a percentage of income:





In absolute terms the USA gave the most aid, $22.74b, followed by the UK at $12.61b.

However, as a percentage of income (Gross National Income - GNI) the Scandinavian and BeNeLux countries were the most generous, as you'd expect; with the US near the bottom above Greece.

In the UK we regard ourselves as pretty generous - and we're not bad. Though it is interesting to see that little Ireland next door was more generous in 2006, as a percentage of income. That has shifted since the recession: worth noting that whereas some countries have cut back their aid spending recently our government has ringfenced ODA and continued to raise it in real terms. I like us for that. US development aid has also increased during the recession.

Those stats are from this source, where up to date info is also to be found:

http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx

Latest aid performance:

http://www.oecd.org/document/22/0,3343, ... _1,00.html

Cheers - C

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Yeah a sort of I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine aid which cant really be described as aid, more do as we say and get the prize, I read the other day about some of those you mentioned Arjay buying up luxurious properties in Paris, London etc being investigated as to why when receiving foreign aid they and their families live a life of luxury.

Ayup.

The entire world may soon be dining on excrement sandwiches but not these clowns.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Oops

Still be regarded as part of our five a day though, right?

I dunno about that.

I always thought that the three major food groups were salt, sugar, and preservatives.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

isn't it interesting what has happened in the last 15 years, with respect to the introduction of the Euro and the boom in China and India- what influence they collectively all have had on the $USD?

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Mmmm preservatives, worked a treat for me, never done me any harm you know I can still at a pinch squeeze into my 32" waist Levi's it's walking around in them that hurts, kids today are so lucky eh

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Foreign aid is next to nothing comparatively. Defense and Healthcare are almost 1 Trillion a year and when Obama Care kicks in it will be the biggest expense we have with projection of it being 1 1/2 the cost of Defense. Obama Care has no money current available in a budget. As of this past December Obama has signed 100's of Waivers to Companies and Unions not requiring them to meet the current mandates because the said they could not afford them with out cutting employee wages or staff size.
Funny thing is some of the companies are insurance companies such as Aetna, Cigna, Health and welfare Benefit Sys. Inc along with places like McDonalds the Federal teachers Union just to name just a few.
No one has the money for it and when forced on them they will most likely drop their coverages eventually moving the majority of Americans into the Government run Obama care because it will be cheaper for large companies to pay penalties.

This has been the plan all along is what is being talked about in discussion groups and political science class. Make it costly and run Insurance companies out of the competitive Healthcare business and move all into a single payer system. A few of the larger insurance companies are already lining them selfs up to be working for the federal government as administrators (contractors ) of federal healthcare system.

Either way you the tax payer are about to be fleeced because someone has to pay for it.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Being self employed, I'm already being fleeced by healthcare and taxes. My health insurance costs are staggering considering I never use it. The price doesn't go down because I'm healthy. It would be nice if it worked like car insurance. I'm basically paying for people who don't have insurance, people who don't take care of themselves, Immigrants, people who sue their doctors and hospitals and hypochondriacs. Healthcare itself is a ripoff industry. Surgeons are nothing but salesmen pure and simple.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

One thing seriously overdue is making former and current members of all branches of the US Government use the same health care and retirement system the force upon everyone else instead of their own exclusive club.

I find it amusing that the " Immigrants " is part of the problem. By that definition, it includes each and every person residing in the U.S. if one follows (hysterical) historical genealogy.
So since we have come to a consensus we could perhaps move further afield...

Obama Care....I love it...it's a description so far off the mark as to be comical if it wasn't actually highlighting a seriously aggravating self induced cultural phenomenon.
Fact.. the average population in the US is the un-healthiest population when compared to other western nations. Obesity is so prevalent that it is seen as the norm rather than the exception.
I personally don't understand how the debate is framed when it consistently omits the 500 pound gorilla in the corner. That is the one that as part and parcel of health-care one of the main criteria's should be the requirement to be healthy, as in proper nutrition and excercise which would reverse the symptoms in most of the cases. But " No ".... no one seems to want to take personal responsibility for their own health.

I actually believe health care is a necessity in a modern affluent country, especially one as rich as this country. Sorry guy's and gals, but there are people who fall thru the cracks, wether it's because of their own negligence or because of bad timing is irrelevant. A little compassion would really help. I do not envy anyone on the street, but rather would like to know that we are searching for applicable solutions so that when someone is destitute and in need of assistance, they are not discarded as yesterday's dirty diapers. It could very well be me or it could very well be you tomorrow...

So to those who vented about pointing the finger at who is the blame for our current malady,
it is rather simple.
Tomorrow morning, as you shave, comb, or apply the warpaint, the face staring back at you is the one person that can (has the potential ) to do the most. If you don't think positively so, then that face is part of the problem, if... on the other hand you think about what can I do today to set into motion a change in my life....Then guess what...? One voice is worth hearing... But a Thousand or Ten thousand voice's are worth paying attention to.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Immigrants ARE part of the problem too. Immigrants today get far more benefits than my Grandparents ever did. Both legal and illegal. Health care, tax breaks, food, housing you name it.
A kid I worked with from Poland years ago, here legally, paid no income taxes and got help with an apartment nicer than I ever had at the time. His church sponsor hooked him up with a job at our company. This kid lived so cheaply that he only cashed one paycheck a month. He kept the bunch of un-cashed checks in his locker. Living large in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The land of milk and money.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal