Are Bribes Justified?
Have any EA interventions involved paying bribes to local officials, directly or indirectly? How would funders respond to a project that shows good evidence and great promise, but requires some allocation for “grease payments”?
There are major “Keep Calm and Carry On” vibes in this community to the the FTX situation; ends don’t justify the means, no true EA would commit fraud etc. But there is some serious thinking and discussion required to understand when and to what extent actions considered unethical are acceptable in service of effective change.
Yes of course—as I wrote:
The issue arises when those numbers are used in the aggregate, for non-substitutable things. For example, when faced with the two job policies I mentioned as an example, is the policy with greater net jobs objectively the “most responsible way” to go?