Aid Sunsets Tied to Evidence

Make foreign‑aid appropriations come with preset outcome metrics and automatic sunset/reallocation rules overseen by an empowered Chief Economist. Programs that miss targets lapse or are downsized without fresh political fights, while top performers scale by default. This turns evidence into a binding budget mechanism rather than a memo. — Hard‑wiring outcomes into appropriations could depoliticize foreign aid and make it resilient to ideological swings while improving effectiveness.

Sources

The shadow of prosperity

Samuel F Derbyshire 2025.09.08 50% relevant

NGOs introduced Prosopis in 1980s northern Kenya to solve fuel, fodder, and erosion issues during famine, but without clear success metrics or exit plans, the intervention became one of Africa’s worst invasives, illustrating why aid should be tied to outcome metrics and automatic sunset/reallocation.

How to Fix Foreign Aid

Santi Ruiz 2025.07.31 100% relevant

Karlan’s account of shifting $1.7B toward higher‑evidence programs and the vulnerability exposed when DOGE reversed reforms suggests the need for statutory, automatic evidence‑linked budgeting.