Millennium villages and the analysis of place-based policies

Interesting to see the arguments about whether or not the Millennium Villages Project could have been better evaluated (either through random placement, or through careful attempts to identify suitable control villages). Part of the problem, according to those defending the project's approach, is that the use of more rigorous evaluation approaches is not possible for place-based policies. I agree with others that this argument is wrong. Evaluation of place-based policies using these approaches might be harder, but it is still feasible.