U.S. Aid: Generous or Stingy?

The December 2004 South Asian tsunami and a remark by a U.N. official that rich countries are "stingy" sparked a national debate about U.S. generosity. Top U.S. officials and President Bush asserted that the U.S. is the most generous country on earth. In assessing these claims, many reporters turned to the CGD Commitment to Development Index  published annually in Foreign Policy magazine.

To shed light on this issue, CGD and the Hudson Institute organized a debate between Carol Adelman, Senior Fellow and Director of The Center for Science in Public Policy at The Hudson Institute; and Steve Radelet, Senior Fellow at CGD. Moderated by Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post, the debate covered such issues as U.S. private giving, and whether remittances and the State Department budget should be counted as foreign aid.

Download the full text transcript.
Watch the debate*
*(Video streams in Quicktime-- if you do not have Quicktime on your computer download it for free)

Speakers' presentation slides and bios

Carol Adelman - Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Science in Public Policy, Hudson Institute
PowerPoint Slides
Transcript of Adelman's introduction lecture

Steve Radelet - Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
PowerPoint Slides
Transcript of Radelet's introduction lecture

Sebastian Mallaby - Columnist, Washington Post (moderator)