ELTON AUDIT final

M A S S A C H U S E T T S I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G Y M A S S A C H U S E T T S I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G YMarch 200606-04M I T C E N T E R F O R I N T E R N A T I O N A L S T U D I E Sof the Conventional WisdomThe Audit of Remittances: Latin America’s Conventional Faulty LifelineWisdomIn this series of essays, MIT’s Center Catherine Eltonfor International Studies tours the MIT Center for International Studieshorizon of conventional wisdoms that animate U.S. foreign policy, and put n recent years, the money that migrants send back to their native them to the test of data and history. By subjecting particularly well-accepted Icountries has become a hot topic in international development cir-ideas to close scrutiny, our aim is cles. Multilateral banks, the governments of migrant-sending nations, to re-engage policy and opinion leaders on topics that are too easily passing the U.S. Government, and international development organizations such scrutiny. We hope that this will lead to further debate and inquiries, laud the potential that remittances have to reduce poverty and pro-with a result we can all agree on: mote development. Remittances are being exalted as “the new devel-better foreign policies that lead to a more peaceful and prosperous world. opment finance,” and a ticket to “high human development,” while Authors in this series are available to the press and policy community. the migrants who send them are hailed as ...