It looks like you’re fairly new to effective altruism, so you might want see my other comment or read the EA Handbook for more of the reasoning behind these answers.
1) I’m not affiliated with the CEA (nor are most of the people on this forum), but there are certainly forms of philanthropy more in line with the principles of effective altruism.
2) Effectiveness is often estimated as importance x neglectedness x tractability. There are good reasons for this, as when correctly formalized it’s an estimate of the total good one can do in the world; see below. I think most consumers are better off either buying from socially responsible non-B1G1 companies, or buying from any company and donating the money saved to either GW top charities (which rate much better in importance and neglectedness) or high-impact existential risk, farm animal welfare, or wild animal welfare causes, which can rate even better depending on your value system. https://concepts.effectivealtruism.org/concepts/importance-neglectedness-tractability/
3, 4) The incentives of B1G1 companies seem to push them towards relatively ineffective causes, and they might indirectly be causing net harm.
5) I would be happy if P&G switched from MNT to bednets. It’s possible the marketing could be equally good since malaria affects so many children under 5.
6) This is a valid criticism. Since highly effective causes are rare, any restriction makes it hard to find one.
7) Not sure.
8) I don’t think this is fair. Neonatal tetanus causes infant mortality, and the MNT vaccine reduces it, even if there are more effective causes to address. In general, addressing institutional/systemic issues can sometimes be more complicated and costly than directly attacking the problem.
9) Given that these companies aren’t currently giving to EA causes themselves, it’s hard for me to imagine such companies recommending them to consumers.
10) I’m skeptical of claims that millennials cause this or that trend because they’re such a broad group. But you could look at data for this one. For example, polls that ask about inclination towards buying B1G1 products, broken down by age range.
11) EA has grown over the last decade, but total donations as a percentage of GDP are more or less flat. If you mean the growth in EA, that’s too complex a question for me to answer.
It looks like you’re fairly new to effective altruism, so you might want see my other comment or read the EA Handbook for more of the reasoning behind these answers.
1) I’m not affiliated with the CEA (nor are most of the people on this forum), but there are certainly forms of philanthropy more in line with the principles of effective altruism.
2) Effectiveness is often estimated as importance x neglectedness x tractability. There are good reasons for this, as when correctly formalized it’s an estimate of the total good one can do in the world; see below. I think most consumers are better off either buying from socially responsible non-B1G1 companies, or buying from any company and donating the money saved to either GW top charities (which rate much better in importance and neglectedness) or high-impact existential risk, farm animal welfare, or wild animal welfare causes, which can rate even better depending on your value system. https://concepts.effectivealtruism.org/concepts/importance-neglectedness-tractability/
3, 4) The incentives of B1G1 companies seem to push them towards relatively ineffective causes, and they might indirectly be causing net harm.
5) I would be happy if P&G switched from MNT to bednets. It’s possible the marketing could be equally good since malaria affects so many children under 5.
6) This is a valid criticism. Since highly effective causes are rare, any restriction makes it hard to find one.
7) Not sure.
8) I don’t think this is fair. Neonatal tetanus causes infant mortality, and the MNT vaccine reduces it, even if there are more effective causes to address. In general, addressing institutional/systemic issues can sometimes be more complicated and costly than directly attacking the problem.
9) Given that these companies aren’t currently giving to EA causes themselves, it’s hard for me to imagine such companies recommending them to consumers.
10) I’m skeptical of claims that millennials cause this or that trend because they’re such a broad group. But you could look at data for this one. For example, polls that ask about inclination towards buying B1G1 products, broken down by age range.
11) EA has grown over the last decade, but total donations as a percentage of GDP are more or less flat. If you mean the growth in EA, that’s too complex a question for me to answer.
12) Not sure.