The USA is consistently among the least generous of the G7 nations in terms of the percentage of Gross National Income it donates. Of the EU15 countries, only Italy has as bad a record.

The usual excuse that there are private donations does not hold water as the response to the Asian Tsunami showed. Neither is the aid provided by the USA the best quality. The AIDS program is severely hampered by the Bush insistence on money going to groups teaching abstaining. It also directly links food aid with the provision of the goods rather than money and this has long been seen as a method of dumping farm surpluses.

Neither is EADS subsidized by the member governments. The only aid it gets nowadays are loans which have to be repaid. Boeing gets considerable aid in the form of subsidizing development and research for the military.