On the first point, if FTX had happened and there were more large EA organisations, it would have been easier to handle the fall out from that, with more places for smaller organisations and individuals to go to for support.
On the last point it seems like that was a part of why DARPA had success, they had lots of projects and were focused on the best succeeding rather than maintaining failing ideas.
I’d argue that the universe in which FTX exposure was at its lowest is the world in which all grantees were small . . . but were properly incorporated and managed like corporations (no comingling of money, observance of corporate formalities, etc.)
It would be easier to manage a scenario with few big entities, but it’d be a lot easier for John Ray & Co. to manage too—especially because those orgs would be more likely to have non-FTX-derived assets that could be taken to satisfy a judgment.
With proper corporate status, the individuals should have been safe, as a corp-to-its-individual employee transfer seems to be beyond the reach of section 550′s power over subsequent transferees. And the individual grantee corporations would make relatively unattractive targets for several reasons (mainly having little money to net per lawsuit).
In other words, I think the core defect was not structuring grantees appropriately rather than their size per se.
On the first point, if FTX had happened and there were more large EA organisations, it would have been easier to handle the fall out from that, with more places for smaller organisations and individuals to go to for support.
Right, I totally agree with that. I think the way FTX Future Fund pushed their risk onto individuals who were not well equipped to understand and/or handle that was a huge failing and is very sad.
~
On the last point it seems like that was a part of why DARPA had success, they had lots of projects and were focused on the best succeeding rather than maintaining failing ideas.
Agreed. That’s part of what I’m trying to do with Rethink Priorities. But I think there are many ways in which we fail to live up to that, and my guess is that other big orgs maintain cost-ineffective projects due to inertia or political pressure because it’s really hard to be ruthless about these sorts of things.
On the first point, if FTX had happened and there were more large EA organisations, it would have been easier to handle the fall out from that, with more places for smaller organisations and individuals to go to for support.
On the last point it seems like that was a part of why DARPA had success, they had lots of projects and were focused on the best succeeding rather than maintaining failing ideas.
I’d argue that the universe in which FTX exposure was at its lowest is the world in which all grantees were small . . . but were properly incorporated and managed like corporations (no comingling of money, observance of corporate formalities, etc.)
It would be easier to manage a scenario with few big entities, but it’d be a lot easier for John Ray & Co. to manage too—especially because those orgs would be more likely to have non-FTX-derived assets that could be taken to satisfy a judgment.
With proper corporate status, the individuals should have been safe, as a corp-to-its-individual employee transfer seems to be beyond the reach of section 550′s power over subsequent transferees. And the individual grantee corporations would make relatively unattractive targets for several reasons (mainly having little money to net per lawsuit).
In other words, I think the core defect was not structuring grantees appropriately rather than their size per se.
Right, I totally agree with that. I think the way FTX Future Fund pushed their risk onto individuals who were not well equipped to understand and/or handle that was a huge failing and is very sad.
~
Agreed. That’s part of what I’m trying to do with Rethink Priorities. But I think there are many ways in which we fail to live up to that, and my guess is that other big orgs maintain cost-ineffective projects due to inertia or political pressure because it’s really hard to be ruthless about these sorts of things.