How the government should get involved

One way this could happen is that the government could fund operations for GiveWell.

This avoids the issue of government giving money to these charities directly for now, as this only creates a lean service for government to enable extra-governmental giving.

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This would unlock more of GiveWell’s revenue from individual donors and from other institutions to be sent directly to charities. GiveWell does not hold on to its excess assets.

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Alternatively, the government could begin a program to take on the most cost-effective global interventions.

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To begin, it might be similar to GiveWell, comparing different existing charities and causes.

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But eventually, this would be an opportunity for the US government to create a dynamic institution that can shift it’s priorities and funding as it cost-effectiveness changes or as our understanding of what matters evolves.

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Earmarking government funds for an institution like this makes much more sense to me than earmarking for one specific cause or issue (like Malaria, for example).

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This institution would be able to easily adjust it’s focus to the most tractable and important concern without the need to assume that one specific issue will be

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Maybe most importantly for our society, this would be a concrete step in having our government’s efforts to improve the world acknowledge the importance of focusing on outcomes and attempt to maximize the good we do with our resources.

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