Bill Gates' Approach To Ending Global Poverty Won't Work, Economist Says

Economist: Bill Gates' Approach To Ending Global Poverty Won't Work
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, participates in an interview session at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' inaugural Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington,DC on March 14, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, participates in an interview session at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' inaugural Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington,DC on March 14, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

SOMEHOW — probably my own fault — I have wound up on Bill Gates’ list of the world’s most misguided economists. Gates singled me out by name in his annual 2014 letter to his foundation as an “aid critic” spreading harmful myths about ineffective aid programs.

I actually admire Gates for his generosity and advocacy for the fight against global poverty through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. We just disagree about how to end poverty throughout the world.

Gates believes poverty will end by identifying technical solutions. My research shows that the first step is not identifying technical solutions, but ensuring poor people’s rights.

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