Which countries do most for the poor?

The Center for Global Development (CGD) has come up with results of a comparative study of which countries do most for the poor. The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries are cleary at the top.

The results may be controversial because of the tools used to measure aid to poor countries. It is an interesting idea however : it is not done on straight aid figures, but on a combination of aid, trade, environment, immigration, security and investment policies and how these benefit poorer nations.

As a result, the graph indicates that France does pretty poorly compared to America.

The reason is that the "US fared well on the trade front. Its barriers to exports from developing countries were lower than any other country in the Commitment to Development Index except New Zealand."

However, as the BBC reports:

And although the US gave more money than anywhere else, its donation was the smallest of the 21 states in relation to the size of its economy.
Much of the US's aid, the CGD added, was contingent on the purchase of US goods, and so was in fact a "backdoor subsidy for American interests".