Instead of relying on the waste-ridden global aid industry to build roads and schools, it’s often better to just give money directly to the poor.
This is the world of aid turned upside down. A couple of years ago, Oxfam tried the idea out in a few villages in Vietnam. Charity workers gave the equivalent of three years’ wages in one go to more than 400 families. When they returned they found that poverty had dropped through the floor, with most of the money spent sensibly on food or fertilizers, seeds and cows.
