Who or what do you subsidize?

Each year the European Union spends $179.28 per head of cattle, $28.93 per sheep and gives $16.11 to each poor person in the developing world. Or, at least that's what the Center for Global Development says. The Center has developed the Commitment to Development Index that seeks to measure the contributions of 21 rich countries to alleviating poverty in the developing world. The countries have stated their intention to do so. The index measures how well these intentions are fulfilled in seven areas: foreign aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security and technology. The Netherlands and the Scandanavian countries typically top the index. The U.S. is in the middle and Japan is dead last.

One thing the index shows is that farmers wield a lot of power; the EU is not alone in spending more on animals than on the poor in developing countries. Cattle ranchers seem to have the most clout as their annual per head subsidy ranges from $2.66 to $987.58, with an average of $92.59.