Interesting post! Broadly I agree on most of the stuff in the meta-section, which I think has been under-researched and under-explained by the orgs in question, and disagree on the interventions, which I think have been extremely well researched and explained.
But importantly, the function of transparency is primarily as a long-term safeguard and disincentive against these things. *Detecting* poor reasoning, bias and corruption is only a secondary function of transparency.
I think this is a really important point, which seems to have been overlooked by many of the responses to recent lack-of-transparency criticisms (cf eg Owen’s explanation of Wytham Abbey, which says that they didn’t tell anyone because ‘I’m not a fan of trying to create hype’ and ‘it felt a bit gauche’, which sounds like they gave basically no thought to the precedents and incentives not announcing it was establishing).
EA grant making decisions are too technocratic
Inasmuch as this is a problem, ironically, it seems like FTX Foundation were the organisation doing the most to redress this via their regranting program.
That said, I think a focus on technocracy per se is misguided. As I understand it, Tuna and Moskovitz have completely relinquished control and sometimes knowledge of the money they donated. If there is a concern to be had with OP and formerly FTX, it’s that the people they relinquished control to are a small number of closely networked individuals who a) tend to be involved with multiple EA orgs and b) tend not to worry about conflict of interest (eg as I understand it Nick Beckstead has simultaneously been a trustee for Effective Ventures and a fund manager for OP directing large amounts of money to EV subsidiaries).
restricted to users with a certain amount of karma
I would like to see a more transparent alternative to EA funds, but karma is a really bad proxy for contribution value—the highest karma people are, almost inevitably, those with the biggest network of other high-karma users to strong-upvote them. Plus newer posts get far more upvoted than older posts, both because of more users and general karma inflation.
Perhaps a more substantial issue with the alternatives you propose is that, assuming the money would go to organisations, it would be very difficult for them to work with such uncertain income sources. Small orgs benefit greatly from a clear conversation about what their funders’ expectations of them are, and what milestones would be necessary/sufficient to secure them funding. Without such predictability, it’s very difficult for them to hire staff, which often (especially for meta-orgs) constitutes a majority of their expenses.
Worth mentioning also that EA funds are a tiny pool of money relative to OpenPhil and (at least on paper) the Founders Pledge commitments.
EAs underestimate the tractability of party politics… EAs underestimate the expected value of advocacy, campaigning and protest
I’m not sure either of these claims are true. 80k have a longstanding problem profile on the value of being a civil servant, which has been extremely influential in the UK at least (I’m not sure why there specifically), to the extent that it’s been one of the most popular career paths for UK-based EAs. And many reports have strongly recommended giving to advocacy organisations (off the top of my head, ACE advocate giving to the Humane League campaigns, FP advocate Clean Air Task Force and formerly Coalition for Rainforest Nations).
That said, I still think Scott’s warning about systemic change is a strong argument for caution.
Interesting post! Broadly I agree on most of the stuff in the meta-section, which I think has been under-researched and under-explained by the orgs in question, and disagree on the interventions, which I think have been extremely well researched and explained.
I think this is a really important point, which seems to have been overlooked by many of the responses to recent lack-of-transparency criticisms (cf eg Owen’s explanation of Wytham Abbey, which says that they didn’t tell anyone because ‘I’m not a fan of trying to create hype’ and ‘it felt a bit gauche’, which sounds like they gave basically no thought to the precedents and incentives not announcing it was establishing).
Inasmuch as this is a problem, ironically, it seems like FTX Foundation were the organisation doing the most to redress this via their regranting program.
That said, I think a focus on technocracy per se is misguided. As I understand it, Tuna and Moskovitz have completely relinquished control and sometimes knowledge of the money they donated. If there is a concern to be had with OP and formerly FTX, it’s that the people they relinquished control to are a small number of closely networked individuals who a) tend to be involved with multiple EA orgs and b) tend not to worry about conflict of interest (eg as I understand it Nick Beckstead has simultaneously been a trustee for Effective Ventures and a fund manager for OP directing large amounts of money to EV subsidiaries).
I would like to see a more transparent alternative to EA funds, but karma is a really bad proxy for contribution value—the highest karma people are, almost inevitably, those with the biggest network of other high-karma users to strong-upvote them. Plus newer posts get far more upvoted than older posts, both because of more users and general karma inflation.
Perhaps a more substantial issue with the alternatives you propose is that, assuming the money would go to organisations, it would be very difficult for them to work with such uncertain income sources. Small orgs benefit greatly from a clear conversation about what their funders’ expectations of them are, and what milestones would be necessary/sufficient to secure them funding. Without such predictability, it’s very difficult for them to hire staff, which often (especially for meta-orgs) constitutes a majority of their expenses.
Worth mentioning also that EA funds are a tiny pool of money relative to OpenPhil and (at least on paper) the Founders Pledge commitments.
I’m not sure either of these claims are true. 80k have a longstanding problem profile on the value of being a civil servant, which has been extremely influential in the UK at least (I’m not sure why there specifically), to the extent that it’s been one of the most popular career paths for UK-based EAs. And many reports have strongly recommended giving to advocacy organisations (off the top of my head, ACE advocate giving to the Humane League campaigns, FP advocate Clean Air Task Force and formerly Coalition for Rainforest Nations).
That said, I still think Scott’s warning about systemic change is a strong argument for caution.