I am not entirely convinced by the arguments yet. Maybe it really makes more sense to donate to individuals? I think what we like to see is our donations have an effect. It is easier to imagine that one child could be helped, than that 8 children could be helped. Looking at a whole country full of squalor, one simply doesn't feel as if one could make a difference. I mean it is not that we feel less sorry about the mass of suffering people, only less confident in out ability to help.

OK, so that would still be a problem of perception. On the other hand, I am also not sure that I accept the other premise of the article, that throwing lots of money at a problem is going to make it go away. It is great what Bill Gates is doing, but it has not yet proven that it will work, or has it?