In 2003, Americans were asked, “How many of your tax dollars would you be willing to have go to economic and humanitarian aid for African countries?” The median response was $20—over six times the actual amount.
The percentage proposing an increase in spending on aid to Africa in principle is far lower than the percentage proposing a dollar amount in excess of the actual dollar amount. This suggests that Americans overestimate how much aid is actually going to Africa. This would be consistent with extensive polling showing that Americans generally overestimate how much is spent on foreign aid and propose levels far in excess of the actual levels.
Aid to Africa (Program on International Policy Attitudes)
Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa receives $10 billion in aid but loses $14 billion in debt payments per year. What’s wrong with this picture?
(Maybe we should be looking into ending oil aid, for a start.)