“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was already colossal when 2006 began. But the $30 billion-plus gift from Warren Buffett created a superfoundation, one nearly five times larger than the second richest, the Ford Foundation. The money is important, but so too is the nature of the philanthropy; it’s a more direct, hands-on approach than traditional foundation grant making. Will all this money make the world a better place? The greatest challenge is the foundation’s focus on improving global health. ‘Less than a decade ago, the biggest problem in global health seemed to be the lack of resources,’ writes Laurie Garrett in the January/February 2007 edition of Foreign Affairs. But now ‘there is grave danger that the current age of generosity could not only fall short of expectations but actually make things worse on the ground.’ Garrett says too often the money focuses on achievable targets, missing larger trends such as the acute shortage of health care workers.” (01/01/07)