“The joys of cash benchmarking” by ozymandias

“The joys of cash benchmarking” by ozymandias

I.

Imagine you run a charity which gives cows to people in the developing world. Your new boyfriend is a statistician and you want to impress him, so you’ve decided to look into this Monitoring and Evaluation thing he keeps going on about. So you give a bunch of people cows and then follow up a year later, and sure enough the people you gave the cows to are richer, healthier, and happier. You proudly tell this to your boyfriend and expect to reap rewards in the form of admiration, cuddles, and a ‘yes’ to your marriage proposal.

Your boyfriend, however, isn’t impressed. What if everyone in the country is getting richer, because the country is industrializing? What if the poor people you gave cows to were having an unusually hard time, and then they got back on their feet, and your cows had nothing to do with it? Apparently, in order to get a sample that really says anything about the world, you need to randomly give cows to half the people, and then check whether the people you gave cows to are doing better than the people you didn’t give cows to (a “randomized controlled trial”).

This [...]

---

First published:
March 10th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/QsvFCcDR2TfSj32aM/the-joys-of-cash-benchmarking

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(250)

“Possible mistake EAs are making and shout out to Pause AI UK” by Michelle_Hutchinson

“Possible mistake EAs are making and shout out to Pause AI UK” by Michelle_Hutchinson

I think right now EAs might be making a significant mistake by paying insufficient attention to the political realm. As EAs we tend to figure out what's most impactful for us to work on and focus hard...

29 Juni 6min

“Coming Around To Political Donations” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

“Coming Around To Political Donations” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

Five years ago I read a post on the EA Forum arguing that "election campaign contributions might be a way in which you can have a substantial impact as a small donor". It struck me as weird but plausi...

12 Juni 4min

“animal welfare has an evidence problem” by matthes

“animal welfare has an evidence problem” by matthes

Why I stopped donating to animal welfare charities but feel more motivated than ever to redirect money and talent to the cause. I have wanted to write this post for a while. It is an uncomfortable thi...

6 Juni 26min

“After making sure we don’t all die, this should be the first priority” by Yaqi Grover

“After making sure we don’t all die, this should be the first priority” by Yaqi Grover

A new article went viral on Twitter today: Nan Ransohoff's "The Third Wave of American Philanthropy" (link). Worth reading first. Nan is right about the shape of what's coming: hundreds of billions in...

31 Maj 6min

“My disagreements with CEA’s approach to stewarding EA” by hbesceli

“My disagreements with CEA’s approach to stewarding EA” by hbesceli

[Cross posted from my substack] In their EA Forum post last year, CEA described their ‘principles-first approach to stewardship of the EA community’. I'm a big fan of principles-first stewardship in ...

29 Maj 27min

“Donating 80% While It Still Counts” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

“Donating 80% While It Still Counts” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

Julia and I had been giving half since 2014, but in 2025 we drew on our savings to donate 81%. It looks to us like we're in a critical window for keeping the introduction of very powerful AI systems f...

27 Maj 11min

“Why now might be the best time ever to start an animal charity” by Aidan Alexander, Aaron Boddy🔸, Ambitious Impact

“Why now might be the best time ever to start an animal charity” by Aidan Alexander, Aaron Boddy🔸, Ambitious Impact

TL;DR: AIM is running its first incubation round focused exclusively on animal welfare, in partnership with Aaron Boddy (co-founder of Shrimp Welfare Project). It'll run in early 2027, and we’re on th...

26 Maj 7min

“Announcing the Rethink Priorities Cross-Cause Fund” by Rethink Priorities

“Announcing the Rethink Priorities Cross-Cause Fund” by Rethink Priorities

TL;DR Today, based on our multi-year prioritization research, we launch the Rethink Priorities Cross-Cause Fund (CCF). The fund pools donors’ contributions and allocates them to high-impact giving fun...

22 Maj 33min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
gynning-berg
p3-dokumentar
svenska-fall
en-mork-historia
aftonbladet-krim
badfluence
tv4-nyheterna-story
killradet
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
mardromsgasten
aftonbladet-daily
flashback-forever
skaringer-nessvold
kod-katastrof
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa
de-fyras-gang
spar
hor-har
historiska-brott