Day 8- The Myth of our Governments Giving
The US economy is nearly three times the size of Japan’s (the next largest world economy), but doesn’t rank in the top 20 in foreign aid.
There is a myth that the U.S. government spends what some would consider to be an exorbitant amount of money on foreign aid. Here is what you might not know. While it is true our government gives billions of dollars in foreign aid (27.5 billion in 2005), that number only accounts for .07 percent of the national budget. That is less than a tenth of a tenth of a percentage. On top of that only a small percentage goes towards aiding those in poverty. A large portion goes towards supporting strategic political allies (Israel, Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan), as well as fighting drugs. This measurement of giving (percentage) doesn’t even put the US in the top 20 countries of those who are most generous in giving.
“The Skeptic’s Guide to Global Poverty,” Dale Hanson Bourke. Authentic Publishing. 2006.
So I’m curious, which countries are in the top 20 for foreign aide
I’ll need to double check this against my original source, but I believe at the time of the study in 2006 they were:
Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, U.K., Finland, Germany, Canada, Spain, Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Greece, Japan and then at 21 the United States.
That data was found here