4 Answers

We've discussed it many times here on akaQA. Most all members are against it and would like to see the most of it stopped.  

There are countries that dont need foreign aide, but get it for political reasons and other devoloping nations have governments that keep the aid for themselves and never use it for what it is intended for. It is a bad idea to hand out all that money, for those countries will always depend on it. The US. is the "mommy" of the world.

This is complicated...we have borrowed A LOT of money from several world banks.  We owe them BIG TIME!!!!  So, in a wieird, could only make sense in the world of politics, kind of way we borrow more and use it for foreign aid.  It is as weird as thinking about how we could possibly pay back a debt that is now in the trillions of dollars!!!

Now that we are discussing this subject, it may be prudent to ask the possible consequences of having omitted all foreign aides:

1.  We produce a lot of products such as drugs and cigarettes that are either banned or highly taxed in this country.    Imagine the amount of income our multi-national companies could stand to lose if certain weight-loss drug, insecticides, cars of higher margin that do not meet American emission standards, and tobacco products that are so highly taxed here (not to mention lawsuits) that are being sold to countries around the world.

2.  Aides to foreign countries typically encourage reciprocity with regards to prime location for the factories, military bases, and many other benefits.  I am not suggesting there is quid pro quo going on, but in a sense, isn't aide a legal way to practice quid pro quo too?

3.  Many multi-national companies have a more difficult time practicing creative accounting to their books here in the U.S.  Other countries would be more lenient to the Americans.

4.  With foreign markets opening up to the Americans, you have an abundant supply of cheap labor that would have violated, and I mean seriously violated, the minimum wage laws here.  C'mon, at $5 and 12 hours per day at some shoe factory?   I just bought a pair of good Reebok shoes for $39 and this price was incidentally the same price I paid when I was in college 40 years ago.

5.  The world markets for us to sell the American brands to become very accessible.  If every Chinese drinks 3 cans of Coke per year, it'd be about a billion dollars in revenue to us.  I am sure the Chinese drink a lot more American soft drinks, eat more KFC's. McDonald's, consume Starbux Coffee and use more Crest toothpaste and Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo.

6.  Prevention of diseases such as HIV:  much of the aide to these countries go towards fighting diseases that could find their way around the world, including ours.

7.  We are such a big consumer of energy.  If ExxonMobil and other oil companies were prevented from operating and drilling in these countries, less energy would be supplied to the world market.   bocci, how long could you last with gasoline at $25 per gallon?  Controlling the oil production around the world is one way Americans get to have some say so in this crazy market.

These aides to foreign countries are a cost of doing business.  If we severely slash these aides, the U.S. economy would not only suffer, the poor here would live a life that would make the Great Depression look desirable....

Be careful what you wish for... These are my thoughts.