Blog Posts

Selecting the appropriate model for diminishing returns

In a previous post, Max suggested two key ways of thinking about diminishing returns: funding gaps and returns functions. He also set out two classes of considerations that are generally desirable in models: closeness of fit and clarity.

Defining Returns Functions and Funding Gaps

As organisations receive more funding, the value of extra funding changes. This is relevant for donation decisions. People have used various concepts to discuss this feature:

What CEA is currently focusing on and why

CEA is ultimately striving to help create an optimal world. We currently believe that building and strengthening the effective altruism community is one of the best ways we can both build our understanding of how to do the most good, and grow the total amount of concrete progress we make towards those goals as a community. This blog post gives more background on our current vision and mission, discusses how we currently prioritise and review projects and summarises our Q2 objectives.

The fidelity model of spreading ideas

In this post I develop a distinction between mechanisms for spreading EA ideas according to how likely they are to keep the nuance of the ideas intact. I then use this distinction to argue that movement builders ought to prefer mechanisms for spreading EA ideas that retain the nuance of the ideas.

The value of money going to different groups

It is well known that an extra dollar is worth less when you have more money. This paper describes the way economists typically model that effect, using that to compare the effectiveness of different interventions. It takes remittances as a particular case study.

CEA Update, May 2017

This email was sent to CEA's supporters in May 2017.

Revision of "Effective altruism: an elucidation and a defence"

The article Effective altruism: an elucidation and a defence has been revised. The revisions concern the counterfactual impact of donations. The advice that the Open Philanthropy Project gives to Good Ventures changed in 2016. Our paper originally set out the advice given in 2015.