ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book reviews the origins of aid, its rise and its fall and the reasons for the trends. It looks at the two aspects of the global economy which must necessarily be linked to any discussion on the effectiveness of aid: debt and trade. The book describes some of the major features of the world of the fourth age, and their implications for aid. The debt crisis has become the major external impediment to the development of the poorest countries and its solution must dominate any discussion on the future of aid. Aside from its performance and prospects, it is evident that aid in its traditional forms is losing its lustre. The distinctions among the other motivations for development aid have also become blurred.
