I’m excited about Open Phil’s new cause area, global aid advocacy. Development aid from rich countries could be used to serve several goals that many EAs care about:
Economic development and poverty reduction
Public health and biosecurity, including drug liberalization
Promoting liberal democracy
Climate change mitigation and adaptation
Also, development aid can fund a combination of randomista-style and systemic interventions (such as building infrastructure to promote growth).
The United States has two agencies that provide development aid: USAID, which provides grants and technical assistance, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which provides equity and debt financing. I’d like to see both of these agencies strengthened and expanded with more funding.
I’m especially excited about the DFC because it was created in 2019 as a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China has used the BRI to buy influence in regions such as Africa, so aid-receiving countries don’t criticize its authoritarian policies. Development finance institutions run by liberal democracies, like the DFC, can be used to peel developing countries away from China and make them more likely to support global democracy promotion initiatives.
I’m excited about Open Phil’s new cause area, global aid advocacy. Development aid from rich countries could be used to serve several goals that many EAs care about:
Economic development and poverty reduction
Public health and biosecurity, including drug liberalization
Promoting liberal democracy
Climate change mitigation and adaptation
Also, development aid can fund a combination of randomista-style and systemic interventions (such as building infrastructure to promote growth).
The United States has two agencies that provide development aid: USAID, which provides grants and technical assistance, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which provides equity and debt financing. I’d like to see both of these agencies strengthened and expanded with more funding.
I’m especially excited about the DFC because it was created in 2019 as a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China has used the BRI to buy influence in regions such as Africa, so aid-receiving countries don’t criticize its authoritarian policies. Development finance institutions run by liberal democracies, like the DFC, can be used to peel developing countries away from China and make them more likely to support global democracy promotion initiatives.