Questioning the new “EA is funding constrained” narrative
I recently saw a presentation with a diagram showing how committed EA funding dropped by almost half with the collapse of FTX, based on these data compiled by 80k in 2022. Open Phil at the time had a $22.5 billion endowment and FTX’s founders were collectively worth $16.5 billion.
I think that this narrative gives off the impression that EA causes (especially global health and development) are more funding-constrained than they really are. 80k’s data excludes philanthropists that often make donations in an EA-aligned way, such as the Gates Foundation’s global health program. As of 2022, Gates’ endowment was worth $67.3 billion,[1] and global health and development accounted for more than half of its spending that year.[2] The Gates Foundation’s global health program, at least, seems to make grants in a cost-effectiveness-driven way, so it arguably should count as EA funding.
Questioning the new “EA is funding constrained” narrative
I recently saw a presentation with a diagram showing how committed EA funding dropped by almost half with the collapse of FTX, based on these data compiled by 80k in 2022. Open Phil at the time had a $22.5 billion endowment and FTX’s founders were collectively worth $16.5 billion.
I think that this narrative gives off the impression that EA causes (especially global health and development) are more funding-constrained than they really are. 80k’s data excludes philanthropists that often make donations in an EA-aligned way, such as the Gates Foundation’s global health program. As of 2022, Gates’ endowment was worth $67.3 billion,[1] and global health and development accounted for more than half of its spending that year.[2] The Gates Foundation’s global health program, at least, seems to make grants in a cost-effectiveness-driven way, so it arguably should count as EA funding.
Gates Foundation on Wikipedia
Gates Foundation’s 2022 Annual Report