To reduce global inequality, let skilled people move where they want

There is a way to make the poor of this world $500 billion better off, but this solution is rarely discussed. This matters, because the international community is gearing up to produce the next set of development goals for 2015-2030, to continue the work of the Millennium Development Goals. $2.5 trillion in development aid plus unknown trillions from national budgets hang in the balance of these goals, so getting our priorities right is vital. Spending money on poorly chosen targets is a wasted opportunity to do much more good elsewhere.

"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.

Help the Poor With Free Trade by Bjorn Lomborg, 02.25.2009 Forbes Magazine, dated March 16, 2009. On My MindIf you want to save the globe, start by increasing global trade. Hundreds of London's bankers joining the dole queue, America's corporate leaders pleading for a government handout: These are the vivid images of the financial crisis captured by the media. Victims in the developing world, by contrast, are easy to overlook.