Who said (it was a Dr someone or other, I think) "Development 
assistance is the transfer of resources from the poor in rich
countries to the rich in poor countries."?

I've found variations of this witty quote attributed to quite a few
people. One site rather depressingly cites the author as "Unknown,
probably dead":

"Definition of Foreign Aid: 'The transfer of money from poor people in
rich countries to rich people in poor countries"  ---Unknown, probably
dead..."

Personal Homepage of Fredric Ihrén: Quotes
http://www.nada.kth.se/~fred/i/humor/quotes

Here are some versions of the quote and its many attributions:

Israeli diplomat Shimon Peres:

"In a quick survey of the Middle East, the former prime minister (and
possible future president) of Israel reeled off some pithy
observations, among them:

Europeans are investing $6 billion in the Middle East. They're
collecting money from poor people in rich countries to give to rich
people in poor countries."

Jewish Journal: Bon Mots from Shimon Peres
http://www.jewishjournal.com/old/calisraelpact.1.21.0.htm

Political economist and author Michael Harrington:

"As Michael Harrington once quipped about foreign aid, such loans were
a transfer of resources from 'poor people in rich countries to rich
people in poor countries.'"

Economics Policy Institute: Debt, Just Forget It
http://www.epinet.org/webfeatures/viewpoints/debt.html

Ohio University history professor Dr. Alfred E. Eckes, Jr:

"In effect, the free trade world is transferring wealth from the poor
in rich countries to the rich in poor countries who are able to
benefit from it."

The North Coast Xpress: Free Trade and Protectionism
http://www.sonic.net/~doretk/Issues/97-08%20AUG/freetrade.html

Author and investment advisor Douglas Casey:

"Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer from poor people in rich
countries to rich people in poor countries. "

Dittohead.org: 24 Political Truths
http://www.dittohead.org/24_truths.html

Fred Smith, President of the Competitive Enterprise Institute:

"As Fred Smith pointed out, foreign aid taxes poor people in rich
countries for the benefit of rich people in poor countries."

HarryBrown.org: Preventing Future Terrorism
http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/TerroristSolutionPart3.htm

I believe the best candidate is the late British economics professor
Peter Bauer:

"Bauer urged people to avoid the word 'aid', which sounded warm and
comforting. Call it a 'government-to-government transfer', he said. It
was a transfer of governments, by governments, and for governments.
Didn't it touch people too? Oh yes, said Bauer, aid was a transfer
from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries!"

IMS Learning Resources: The Passing Away of a Titan
http://www.imsindia.com/csb/articlebankecon1.htm

Bauer is also cited as the source of the quote by the distinguished
columnist Thomas Sowell and by "The Economist," a very well-regarded
British publication:

"Above all, Lord Bauer argued, there would be no concept of the third
world at all were it not for the invention of foreign aid. Aid
politicised economies, directing money into the hands of governments
rather than towards profitable business. Interest groups then fought
to control this money rather than engage in productive activity. Aid
increased the patronage and power of the recipient governments, which
often pursued policies that stifled entrepreneurship and market
forces. Indeed, aid had proved 'an excellent method for transferring
money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor
countries.'"

University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire: A Voice for the Poor
http://www.uwec.edu/geography/Ivogeler/w111/articles/ideological%20prespectives.htm

"Peter Bauer considered it arbitrary and self-serving to call
international transfers of money to Third World governments'foreign
aid.' Whether it was an aid or a hindrance was an empirical question.
Sometimes it could turn out to be simply 'transferring money from poor
people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.'"

Town Hall: Thomas Sowell
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/printts20020510.shtml

The Google search strategy that produced the best results used the
phrase "rich people in poor countries." I also tried the search
phrases "the rich in poor countries," "the poor in rich countries,"
and "development assistance," with less success.

Google Web Search: "rich people in poor countries"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22rich+people+in+poor+countries

Thanks for asking an interesting question! I hope this information is
useful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, or if any of the links
do not function, please request clarification before rating my answer,
and I'll be glad to offer further assistance.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 18 Jan 2003 18:07 PST

Thank you very much for the five-star rating!

Your remarks regarding economists remind me of an old (but apt) joke:

Three economists are on a hunting trip when they spy a large deer in a
clearing. The first economist fires, and misses, by a meter to the
left. The second economist fires, and also misses, by a meter to the
right. The third economist throws his gun to the ground and shouts in
triumph, "We got him! We got him!"

~pinkfreud

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Request for Answer Clarification by karshish-ga on 19 Jan 2003 15:16 PST

I only clicked this button because I wasn't sure how otherwise to
contact pinkfreud-ga. I like the 2-huntmen story. I have long believed
the art of being a highly respected economist lies in being able to
find convincing reasons why one’s last economic forecast was
hopelessly wrong. One of the very few economists for whom I have a
modicum of respect is Simon Kuznets who received a quasi-Nobel prize
for inventing GDP, and who once remarked (words to the effect of)
"Every division of an average is a step closer to reality".

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 20 Jan 2003 08:09 PST

Many thanks for the Kuznets quote, which I found both amusing and frightening. ;-)

~pinkfreud

My only comment, other than to express my admiration for the extent
and appositeness of your reply, is that The Economist is well-regarded
by some, but not by me. In my view, economics is a charaltan
discipline, the result of a misalliance between accountancy and
astrology. Economists are latter-day chicken entrail inspectors.