Last week, when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released its 2014 Gates Annual Letter, doom-and-gloom headline writers reacted with astonishment.

The annual letter, titled “3 Myths That Block Progress for the Poor,” begins with four simple and, to my mind, factually incontestable sentences: “By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been. People are living longer, healthier lives. Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient. You might think that such striking progress would be widely celebrated, but in fact, Melinda and I are struck by how many people think the world is getting worse.