ABSTRACT
International development as a global concept emerged from the ravages of the Second World War and was most widely propagated through the coordinated efforts of the Three Sisters of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the large amounts of monies came from other sources. The power of creativity, connectivity, ingenuity and, inevitably, new theories would attempt to explain it all. The Marshall Plan, foreign aid was viewed as beneficial to both donor and recipient. Foreign aid has gone through many phases where different types of assistance have been emphasized. In 1990, at a small, elite World Bank conference on development, Paul Romer introduced a theory that posited it was the human ability to create ideas that led human progress. Growth, as traditionally defined, is not sustainable. A new theory was brewing, knowledge economics. The standard approach of most development lending has been directed toward economic growth.
