Tim Cullen MBE is an Associate Fellow of the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and was, until recently, Director of the Oxford Programme on Negotiation. Tim is best known for his role as the first Executive Director of the Small Countries Financial Management Centre, which he helped establish with the support of the Isle of Man government, the World Bank, and the Commonwealth Secretariat.  Does Government investment in improving financial management in small and developing countries represent good value for tax payers’ money or would we be better spending it on improving our own services.