korrents

What Oliver Kim thinks about America

@oliver-kim · 19 positions · 1 change of mind

Development economist and economic historian who writes the Global Developments newsletter. He works on East Asian growth — Taiwanese land reform, Korean industrial policy — and on what the East Asian record does and does not tell other poor countries.

Oliver Kim did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

4 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Oliver Kim has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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  1. Our readingAmerican aid spending has been flat in real terms since 1945 even as the American economy grew tenfold.

    Their wordsEven as GDP has grown tenfold, US aid budgets have remained basically flat in real terms—the result (one might guess) of a delicate balancing act between bipartisan consensus among elites and a wariness of attracting too much negative attention.

    ↗A World Without Aid?global-developments.org 1st of 7 in this piece

  3. Our readingForeign aid was a bipartisan American commitment for eight decades, with Republican and Democratic presidents spending within a few billion dollars a year of each other.

    Their wordsThe longevity of that consensus is itself remarkable: in 79 years of data, Republican presidents spent an average of $34 billion a year on aid, while Democrats spent $40 billion.

    ↗A World Without Aid?global-developments.org 2nd of 7 in this piece

  5. Our readingAmerican aid to sub-Saharan Africa has never exceeded $15 per person a year.

    Their wordsAmerican aid obligations in Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, have never exceeded $15 per person

    ↗A World Without Aid?global-developments.org 5th of 7 in this piece

  7. Our readingEnding USAID is a humanitarian disaster that still does not doom growth in poor countries, because the flows were always far too small to drive it.

    Their wordsThe potential end of USAID is an unfolding public health and humanitarian disaster, but it does not permanently doom the task of growth—in large part because these aid flows were far too small to begin with.

    ↗A World Without Aid?global-developments.org 6th of 7 in this piece