Different charities will have different effects but broadly speaking if you save someone’s life, that person continues to live and generate economic value (they do work, other people benefit by associating with them, etc.) Some things (like animal welfare) may be more like consumption (though accomplishing animal welfare advocacy goals may change policy that continues on further in time).
But also there may be a category error because even if the nonprofit just pays people to do nothing. The money you gave doesn’t cease to exist—it just becomes income for the employees and is spent on some combination of consumption and savings by them and the government that taxes them. So i think it may lead to a question of: in the broader economy, is savings or consumption preferred? And I guess that would probably vary over time based on the macroeconomic sittuation.
Thanks for elaborating! That’s very helpful to understand and certainly strengthens the case for giving now (in the sense of power/capital transfer to other altruists).
Different charities will have different effects but broadly speaking if you save someone’s life, that person continues to live and generate economic value (they do work, other people benefit by associating with them, etc.) Some things (like animal welfare) may be more like consumption (though accomplishing animal welfare advocacy goals may change policy that continues on further in time).
But also there may be a category error because even if the nonprofit just pays people to do nothing. The money you gave doesn’t cease to exist—it just becomes income for the employees and is spent on some combination of consumption and savings by them and the government that taxes them. So i think it may lead to a question of: in the broader economy, is savings or consumption preferred? And I guess that would probably vary over time based on the macroeconomic sittuation.
Thanks for elaborating! That’s very helpful to understand and certainly strengthens the case for giving now (in the sense of power/capital transfer to other altruists).