PL480 Funding and LDCs Development

Indianapolis, IN

With increasing budget concerns under the current Administration, it is likely that the topic of US foreign aid is going to remain in the limelight of political discussion. A significant portion of US foreign Aid is conducted under the Food For Peace Program (PL 480) and is administered by USAID. There are two primary schools of thought regarding the efficacy of US foreign aid. The first school of thought is composed of authors who are for the use of foreign aid and see programs like PL480 as an effective tool for LDCs development. The second school of thought suggests that PL480 funding has no impact on LDCs development and point to the role of private funding to help international development. This quantitative analysis uses data from USAID and the World Bank to analyze the current divide in the literature. The results of this analysis provide insight to the debate, provide information for policy makers, and shedding light on the subject for citizens whose tax money funds PL480 programs.