ABSTRACT
Fine, so we need to find more money. But won't private money do? And can't poorer countries pay with their own tax take? And can't billionaires help out with their philanthropy? In this chapter, we look more deeply into what makes the “global” and the “public” in Global Public Investment so important. What is its special FUNCTION in responding to the challenges described in Chapter 3? Foreign aid has traditionally been considered nothing more than a stop-gap, necessary only in exceptional circumstances to fill a gap in a country's finances; as other types of finance become available, this temporary support comes to an end. But public finance has a unique set of characteristics, at the international as well as the national level, which mean it cannot simply be replaced by private, domestic or philanthropic funds. Even when other funds come on stream, a system of Global Public Investment is still often the best type of finance for some interventions, not a last resort, but a first thought, prodding societies in the right direction and promoting global benefits. In other words, it is not just the quantity of a particular type of money that matters, but its unique qualities as well. Importantly, this special kind of money can play a role in all country types, not just the poorest, as well as help deal with cross-border challenges.
