Category: Billionaire philanthropy
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Billionaire philanthropy: (Part 6: From efficiency to extravagance)
An influx of wealth led in some cases to excessive spending by effective altruists. I consider general evidence that the funding bar was lowered by the ready availability of cash, then focus on two concrete projects which look to involve excessive spending: Wytham Abbey and Redwood Research.
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Billionaire philanthropy: (Part 5: Sources of wealth)
When reflecting on the harms and benefits of donations to effective altruist causes, it is important to ask where the donated wealth comes from. In this post, I look at some challenges raised by key sources of wealth for effective altruist causes.
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Billionaire philanthropy: (Part 4: Motivations)
What drives billionaires to give? Why are many members of the public suspicious of a gap between philanthropists’ actual and stated motivations? And if wealthy philanthropists are often driven by more than pure altruism, what might this imply for the role of billionaire philanthropy in society today?
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Billionaire philanthropy (Part 3: Patient philanthropy)
Through patient philanthropy, effective altruists strive to create wealthy foundations that will accumulate an increasing fraction of societal assets over time. Patient philanthropy promises strong returns on investment, but also raises important challenges.
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Billionaire philanthropy (Part 2: Philanthropy and democracy)
Many of us believe that public goods should be allocated through democratic decisionmaking. Philanthropists supply badly needed public goods, but do so by circumventing the usual process of democratic decisionmaking. This gives wealthy philanthropists an outsized voice in how public goods are allocated.
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Billionaire philanthropy (Part 1: Introduction)
What is the role of billionaire philanthropists within effective altruism and within society? What should that role be? In this series, I ask what drives billionaire philanthropists, how they are taxed and regulated, and what sorts of influence they should be allowed to wield within a democratic society.