ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have been concerned with setting up an analytical framework for the economics of aid. If these chapters have succeeded in giving the reader a simple, orderly conceptual apparatus for approaching aid issues they will have fulfilled their intention. But the simplicity and neatness of the analysis is misleading and dangerous because the development process and the role of aid is infinitely more complex and subtle than these simple models and principles suggest. It is salutary to end on a somewhat sceptical note in case the impression is given that economists know more than they really do about the key factors in economic growth or that the preceding analysis provides any more than a first step in providing a basis for aid policy decisions.
