Hi there, it's George Parker here, the FTs political editor. Political Fix is on a break this week,

but we haven't forgotten you, and we thought this might be a good moment to introduce you to one of

our sister podcasts, Swamp Notes, where our colleagues in the States discuss the biggest themes

driving US politics, business and markets. We hope you find it informative and engaging,

and remember, you can subscribe to any of the FT podcasts wherever you usually find them.

There was a point not too long ago when the United States was the largest state sponsor of international aid in the world.

For decades, Washington spent billions of dollars for medicine, research, and agriculture in the poorest countries. Experts

say it saved millions of lives. Then earlier this year, the Trump administration pulled

almost all funding for the U.S. agency for international development. And now we're

getting a sense of the consequences. This is Swamp Notes, the weekly podcast from the Financial

Times, where we talk about all the things happening in U.S. politics, finance, and the economy.

I'm your host, Mark Filipino, and this week we're asking, what is the closure of U.S. AID really costing the world?

Here with me to discuss is George Ingram. He's worked on international development and economic

policy for two branches of government and the nonprofit space. He's now a senior fellow at the

Brookings Institute's Center for Sustainable Development.

George, welcome.

Thanks for inviting me.

And we've also got David Pilling, the FTs Africa editor. Hi, David.

Hi, Mark.

George, you've been involved in this space, foreign assistance, international development policy for decades,

including for a couple of years as a principal

deputy assistant administrator of USAID. Give me a sense of the foreign aid landscape before this year.

...