Cross-posted from my Substack.
Epistemic status: I’ve puzzled over this for a long time but I’m not sure I came to the right answers. I'm sharing this partly because it might help others work on resource allocation, but mostly because some smarter reader might tell me how to do it better.
TL;DR:
* I he...
With the AI windfall, mental health may be taken increasingly seriously by mainstream EA. There’s increasingly room to explore the cause area and answer some of the biggest uncertainties; at the same time, costs of the most effective interventions are continuing to fall. StrongMinds is now treating for ~$35, about a third of GiveWell’s best guess from a few years ago, and is expected to...
Thanks for this idea, I'd love to take you up on it. To figure out how many I want:
PS. I might want a hundred or something, in that case I should give you some cash. Donations to EA orgs aren't tax deductible in Australia, so the counterfactual to me buying them is me giving to EA orgs without a tax deduction, whereas your counterfactual to you buying them is (presumably) you giving to EA orgs with a tax deduction. PPS. It seems like everyone else personally messaged you which I can't figure out how to do, sorry...
Click the "messages" link on the right of the sub-header thing, then the "compose" link on the left :)
Hey Brenton--
I'm printing as I go. For example, if you wanted 100 copies, I'd order a 100-copy print run and have it shipped directly to Australia (that would be $4.01/copy with shipping). There isn't much of a volume discount for printing, so this appears to be the most economical strategy.
Legally, no one can exchange cash. (Otherwise, everyone would be able to order the book directly from the printer.) That's why I'm presently footing the bill. I appreciate the tax deduction point, and I am working on a solution. (By that same logic, however, shouldn't you be giving me all of your to-be-donated cash, and then I'll donate it on your behalf and get a further tax deduction?)
You can send me your address via email: [email protected]
Hi mhpage,
Great, thanks for that. I'll send you an email after I've discussed with people on this end how many we want.
This situation actually made me think more about what can be done around the legality/problems with these types of arrangements. At the moment though I agree that we don't have a good answer to your concern in this area at the moment so no worries at all if you want to do the ordering.
Thanks for your reply mate, chat soon.