The high cost of aid

No country has received more U.S. foreign aid and U.S. charity from NGOs and churches than Haiti. There's a very high cost. Not to us, but to the recipients.

"The real problem of aid to Haiti . . . has less to do with Haiti than it does with the effects of aid itself. "The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape," James Shikwati, a Kenyan economist, told Der Spiegel in 2005. "For God's sake, please just stop."

Take something as seemingly straightforward as food aid. "At some point," Mr. Shikwati explains, "this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unscrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the U.N.'s World Food Program." See the full story at Wall Street Journal, by Bret Stephens To Help Haiti, end foreign aid.