This seems mostly right, but it still doesn’t seem like the main reason that we ought to talk about global health.
There are lots of investors visibly trying to do things that we ought to expect will make the stock market more efficient. There are still big differences between companies in returns on R&D or returns on capital expenditures. Those returns go mainly to people who can found a Moderna or Tesla, not to ordinary investors.
There are not (yet?) many philanthropists who try to make the altruistic market more efficient. But even if there were, there’d be big differences in who can accomplish what kinds of philanthropy.
Introductory EA materials ought to reflect that: instead of one strategy being optimal for everyone who wants to be an EA, the average person ought to focus on easy-to-evaluate philanthropy such as global health. A much smaller fraction of the population with unusual skills ought to focus on existential risks, much as a small fraction of the population ought to focus on founding companies like Moderna and Tesla.
This seems mostly right, but it still doesn’t seem like the main reason that we ought to talk about global health.
There are lots of investors visibly trying to do things that we ought to expect will make the stock market more efficient. There are still big differences between companies in returns on R&D or returns on capital expenditures. Those returns go mainly to people who can found a Moderna or Tesla, not to ordinary investors.
There are not (yet?) many philanthropists who try to make the altruistic market more efficient. But even if there were, there’d be big differences in who can accomplish what kinds of philanthropy.
Introductory EA materials ought to reflect that: instead of one strategy being optimal for everyone who wants to be an EA, the average person ought to focus on easy-to-evaluate philanthropy such as global health. A much smaller fraction of the population with unusual skills ought to focus on existential risks, much as a small fraction of the population ought to focus on founding companies like Moderna and Tesla.