Opinion Journal: Bang for the Development Buck

During the 1970s and 1980s, a successful family planning program with strong private and public sector support helped contribute to a decline in Haiti’s fertility rate. Political instability in the 1980s saw the dissolution of the National Family Planning Council, the termination of the family planning outreach project, and support for many sexual and reproductive health services shifted to international organizations.

"Here’s $2.5 trillion. You have 15 years to spend it. How do you distribute this money in a way that will achieve the most good for the world?"

Bjorn Lomborg just did a podcast with Freakonomics on his think tank's "Post-2015" project on the Sustainable Development Goals. It is the podcast for the #1 selling Freakonomics book, a #1-ranked podcast, with more than 5 million monthly downloads.

Every year, global climate summits feature a parade of hypocrisy, as the world’s elite arrive on private jets to lecture humanity on cutting carbon emissions. The current UN climate summit in Egypt offers more breathtaking hypocrisy than usual, because the world’s rich are zealously lecturing poor countries about the dangers of fossil fuels—after devouring massive amounts of new gas, coal, and oil.