THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT - On scale of stingy nations, U.S. may not be the worst

The Miami Herald ^ | May. 25, 2003 | Andres Oppenheimer

[Billthedrill]

the first of its kind that takes into account six factors: foreign aid, trade, migration, investment, peacekeeping efforts and environmental behavior...

And if one adds the estimated $9 billion in U.S. charitable aid -- money given by churches, corporations and private citizens -- the United States is by far the largest aid donor in the world, they say...

I should certainly like that seventh factor to be included inasmuch as it may amount to as much as 9 billion. That is an awful lot of "invisible" aid.

I did notice one little nugget of extremely interesting information in the report - the part about most Latin American countries being middle-range economies and hence not qualifying for foreign aid...there was a time not too long ago when these were claimed to be hotbeds of runaway overpopulation, poverty, and incipient communism. I wonder what happened, other than democracy, healthy capitalism and the end of the Cold War?