I don’t have time for a real post today and I did two yesterday, so here are some scattered comments about what you can expect over the next few weeks: First off, there’s a blog carnival – which is an awful name for what I would prefer to call a “blogozine,” a collection of posts…
The GiveWell Blog
All posts by Holden
One more thing
“I’ve got a great new charitable venture. What I’m going to do is separate the S&P 500 into socially responsible and socially irresponsible companies. I’ll go long the good companies and short the bad ones.* Of course, I’ll be doing this for altruism, not out of any knowledge of the companies – so I might…
More thoughts on “responsible investing”
The debate on responsible investing continues, including some thought-provoking discussion of “blended value.” People are pointing out, rightly, that being profitable vs. being beneficial to society is not an either-or. A charitable foundation can make investments that it expects to recoup partly or fully, and still think of these as part of its charitable activities…
I’m basically fine with investing in evil
I have plenty more ranting to do on the Straw Ratio, but apparently blogs are supposed to discuss current events or something, and the big story in charity blogging (yeah, charity blogging is a thing–I knew it wasn’t going to take much more time to get going than food blogging) is “social investing.” Specifically, the…
Which of these boasts is not like the others?
1. “90c of your dollar goes directly to building cars. Only 10% of our expenses go into planning and designing them.” 2. “We’re using a volunteer director and no advertising, so we can spend 100% of the movie’s budget on shooting expenses. It’ll be a hit!” 3. “90% of our military budget goes directly to…
OK, Straw Man, the gloves are off
I’m spreading my rant against the Straw Ratio across a few posts, because (a) I have a lot to say; (b) this idea is really central to what we’re doing. Let’s start with an observation so obvious that you’re going to get mad at me for being patronizing. There is a lot you need to…