Does aid have a future?

ODA bashing has become a popular pastime. Apart from the periodic allegations that aid has little effect or that its effects are perverse, a wealth of material has been produced in recent years announcing the end of aid and sometimes claiming that its role in the development of poor countries was becoming marginal. The argument goes that globalisation of the economy and the liberalisation of capital would automatically lead to global economic convergence, rendering traditional aid obsolete. In the purest neo-classical tradition, the free play of the market and laisser-faire policy should promote the convergence of forms of production and consumption patterns, and the south would catch up as a result.