Most aid and philanthropy decisions are made based on persuasive sounding narratives, and we relish taking part in those stories, even if the actual results are mixed. But the results of the most pragmatic approach, built on statistics and economic analysis rather than narrative, can be stunning.

Bjorn Lomborg discusses as part of his talk for the Long Now Foundation. 

The participation rate in Haitian elections is low. In last October’s election, less than one-quarter of eligible voters participated.

The process is long and complex, leaving opportunities for error and fraud, while the costs of holding an election have climbed more than 400% in 25 years.

With apparent broad public support, electronic voting has been suggested as one way of reducing the cost, cutting the opportunities for error and fraud, and re-establishing public trust.

¿Cuáles son los mayores problemas a los que se enfrenta la humanidad? En cualquier parte del mundo en donde hago esta pregunta, escucho respuestas bastante similares: la falta de educación y oportunidades, la pobreza, la desigualdad, la violencia y la guerra, la degradación ambiental.

Pero estar de acuerdo en que existe un problema no es lo mismo que saber cómo solucionarlo. Cuando hablamos de gasto en desarrollo y de filantropía, es demasiado fácil malgastar el dinero —y perder oportunidades— porque esta importante distinción es ignorada.

A new report by spending watchdog the National Audit Office has generated concern about UK foreign aid by revealing that allegations of fraud have risen more than four-fold in five years.

Aid always has an element of risk, which agencies such as the Department for International Development (DfID) strive to keep to acceptable levels. But there is a broader problem globally with the way that development funds are allocated.

In every country, considerable resources are spent by the government and businesses, various national agencies, and often local and foreign NGOs, to improve the standard of living.

Haiti is no exception. The national budget is 203 billion Gourdes (USD$3 billion) annually, and another 67 billion Gourdes (USD$1 billion) is received in aid each year. On top of this, there are earthquake recovery resources and the money that is spent by private industry, donors, or sent home by the Haitian Diaspora.

Over the next 15 years, the Sustainable Development Goals will influence more than USD 2.5 trillion of money in development aid and trillions more meant to help reduce poverty, hunger and disease, and improve education and the environment. Bangladesh, along with all other nations, now has to decide where to spend scarce resources to do the most good. And clearly not all of the many, many UN targets are equally good, smart or effective.

El presidente Trump ha eliminado de un plumazo una de las medidas más importantes para la reducción de la pobreza que habría sido promulgada en esta década. 

La vision des inégalités diffusée par Oxfam est caricaturale. En fait, les inégalités diminuent. par Bjorn Lomborg, Copenhaguen Consensus Center

Aujourd'hui, on observe une impression générale - et fausse - que l'inégalité gagne inexorablement du terrain dans le monde. Oxfam a récemment contribué à jeter la confusion dans l'esprit déclarant que la richesse des huit personnes les plus fortunées du monde équivaut à celle de la moitié de la population mondiale.

Everyone – from elected officials and bureaucrats to voters and taxpayers – can learn from the world’s largest charitable foundation about effective development spending. And these lessons are particularly relevant at a time when 56% of Europeans believe their governments should focus solely on domestic issues and let recipient countries deal with problems as best they can (opposition to aid is even higher in France, Poland, Italy, Hungary, and Greece).

NYKYISIN on vallalla virheellinen käsitys, jonka mukaan eriarvoisuus lisääntyy vääjäämättä. Kansalaisjärjestö Oxfam ruokki tätä väärinkäsitystä tammikuussa julkistetussa raportissaan väittämällä, että kahdeksalla maailman varakkaimmalla ihmisellä on yhtä paljon omaisuutta kuin puolella koko maailman väestöstä.

Oxfam mittaa nettovarallisuutta, ei tuloja. Järjestön laskelmiin sisältyy niin sanottu negatiivinen omaisuus, kuten opintolaina ja asunto-omaisuuteen sidottu pääoma.