That is an interesting comment, and one that applies to essentially any major social change effort that claims lasting impacts. At a macro level, you could estimate a counterfactual rate of spending and look at the either lasting or temporary increase in expenditure due to Carnegie's initiative. At a micro level, the particular individuals affected will of course still have an impact.
This is a good reminder that before attempting to quantify any long-term lasting benefit, it's worth analyzing the counterfactual to at least attempt to estimate how long it might have otherwise taken to reach that impact. There may be some causes where that counterfactual is quickly inevitable, or conversely, more improbable. Unfortunately, I would say that at the current relatively slow pace of progress on global equity, that there are still plenty of projects to go after with long tails of benefit.
Hi everyone, my name is Andrew Youn. I am co-founder of One Acre Fund and Prevail Fund. One Acre Fund is an NGO serving farmers in Africa. About half of the world’s $1-a-day poor are African farmers, and our goal is to help them earn more income. We provide farm services to about 6 million families currently. As part of this work, I lived in rural parts of East Africa for more than ten years.
Prevail Fund is a younger org that raises funding for and launches “mega projects” with narrow goals. Our only fund so far supports 25 education orgs in Africa and South Asia that work through government public school systems to advance foundational literacy and numeracy, have evidence, and good cost-effectiveness. We are also working on two new funds this year.
I have long felt aligned with many principles of the EA movement, and along with everyone else was inspired by Singer and other ethicists early on. One thing I appreciate is the meritocracy of ideas in the EA community, and I have learned a lot over the years from various posts and members. I plan to do some writing around two themes: Big Goal projects, and hopefully some stuff about on-the-ground field realities - which I personally think are both relevant and under-addressed in the world today. First post soon hopefully, if I can gather up the courage? I appreciated the guidance for writers to not make things perfect. I’m good at that!
That is an interesting comment, and one that applies to essentially any major social change effort that claims lasting impacts. At a macro level, you could estimate a counterfactual rate of spending and look at the either lasting or temporary increase in expenditure due to Carnegie's initiative. At a micro level, the particular individuals affected will of course still have an impact.
This is a good reminder that before attempting to quantify any long-term lasting benefit, it's worth analyzing the counterfactual to at least attempt to estimate how long it might have otherwise taken to reach that impact. There may be some causes where that counterfactual is quickly inevitable, or conversely, more improbable. Unfortunately, I would say that at the current relatively slow pace of progress on global equity, that there are still plenty of projects to go after with long tails of benefit.
Hi everyone, my name is Andrew Youn. I am co-founder of One Acre Fund and Prevail Fund. One Acre Fund is an NGO serving farmers in Africa. About half of the world’s $1-a-day poor are African farmers, and our goal is to help them earn more income. We provide farm services to about 6 million families currently. As part of this work, I lived in rural parts of East Africa for more than ten years.
Prevail Fund is a younger org that raises funding for and launches “mega projects” with narrow goals. Our only fund so far supports 25 education orgs in Africa and South Asia that work through government public school systems to advance foundational literacy and numeracy, have evidence, and good cost-effectiveness. We are also working on two new funds this year.
I have long felt aligned with many principles of the EA movement, and along with everyone else was inspired by Singer and other ethicists early on. One thing I appreciate is the meritocracy of ideas in the EA community, and I have learned a lot over the years from various posts and members. I plan to do some writing around two themes: Big Goal projects, and hopefully some stuff about on-the-ground field realities - which I personally think are both relevant and under-addressed in the world today. First post soon hopefully, if I can gather up the courage? I appreciated the guidance for writers to not make things perfect. I’m good at that!