I’ll add one small comment regarding this. I think that the claim that “resources devoted toward economic development tends to do more good than resources toward small-scale health interventions” makes sense. On three different occasions when I’ve mentioned randomized control trials as a great way for creating new knowledge, I’ve had EAs refer me to this article as if this article was a critique of RCTs. Thus, I suspect that multiple people have misinterpreted the aim of the article, and are mentally categorizing it as “a critique of RCTs” rather than as “a critique of small scale interventions as less effective than economic growth.”
I’ll add one small comment regarding this. I think that the claim that “resources devoted toward economic development tends to do more good than resources toward small-scale health interventions” makes sense. On three different occasions when I’ve mentioned randomized control trials as a great way for creating new knowledge, I’ve had EAs refer me to this article as if this article was a critique of RCTs. Thus, I suspect that multiple people have misinterpreted the aim of the article, and are mentally categorizing it as “a critique of RCTs” rather than as “a critique of small scale interventions as less effective than economic growth.”