Jeffrey Sachs Quotes

Billions of dollars are thrown at African countries.

The United States spends more money on African aid than any nation on earth.

All those countries who keep their aid promises should be proud of what they've done

I believe in generous aid policies.

In this financial year we will be spending at least $1.5 billion on foreign aid and we cannot be sure that this money will be properly spent, as corruption and mismanagement in many of the recipient countries are legend.

In 2005 we have a once in a generation opportunity to deliver a modern Marshall plan for the developing world.

Each one of my budgets has taken a meat axe to foreign aid, because I think we ought to quit sending it to countries that hate us.

Governments of rich countries spend some $6bn of tax money a year on disaster relief and development aid overseas, while each new earthquake, famine or tidal wave can attract 1,000 aid organisations, from the United Nations Children's Fund and Oxfam to the 'Jesus Brigades' of the American south and other charitable adventurers.

The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.

Do I like foreign aid? Sometimes, but not every time. Don't like giving money to our enemies, but I love giving money to Israel.

Some people have been talking about - every place I go, they bring up the issue of foreign aid. I go, 'You can't get rid of all foreign aid.'

The aid system is broken. The international aid system was designed for the 20th century. However, we are in the 21st century.

The misconception that aid falls straight into the hands of dictators largely stems from the Cold War era.

America needs to rethink how we distribute our foreign aid around the world.

India is more of an aid recipient than a provider of aid.

When foreign assistance has a clear mission, buy-in from the aid-recipient country, and explicit metrics for implementation, the United States will be able to transition aid-recipient nations into strong trading partners. One of the greatest examples of this successful transition is South Korea.

No nation helps more people around the globe. Our deep generosity is given so freely that it is simply expected, by others and by ourselves. From Ethiopia to Haiti to Japan where there is tragedy, famine or disaster, we lead the way with private and public help.

We pay billions - hundreds of billions of dollars to supporting other countries that are in theory wealthier than we are.

If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous. But when you add on our private contributions - see, our tax system encourages private citizens to donate to organisations that, for example, help the folks in Africa. And when you take the combined effort of US taxpayers' money plus US citizens' donations, we're very generous. And we'll do more.

Further, Japan is the second largest donor in Iraq after the United States, with over $5 billion dollars for humanitarian, infrastructure and reconstruction projects.

Government funding that's coming from the United States is making a huge difference on the ground in the developing world. It's really palpable - it's making a huge difference saving lives.

I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees.

For a long time, rich countries have promised to reduce poverty but have failed to match their words with adequate action. Of course, some important progress has been made and millions of lives have been saved, but millions more could be saved.

But you are absolutely right that when the international community decides to help in a meaningful manner a country like Afghanistan, then coordination between the various actors that are involved in these processes is very, very difficult indeed.

If you look just at the decades after 1934, you know it's hard to point to really inspired and positive support from outside of Haiti, to Haiti, and much easier to point to either small-minded or downright mean-spirited policies.