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July 2015

Could Raising Alcohol Taxes Save Lives?

by David Roodman Published July 30, 2015

Note: Before the launch of the Open Philanthropy Project Blog, this post appeared on the GiveWell Blog. Uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to the Open Philanthropy Project or to GiveWell as an organization. Additional comments may be available at the original post.

I’ve just posted a review on the effects of alcohol taxes on alcohol consumption—and on the lives that alcohol abuse can cost. This literature review is unusual in the degree to which it replicates the studies it examines, so I have called it a “replication review.” Data, code, and spreadsheets are here. [node:read-more:link]

Key Questions about Philanthropy, Part 3: Making and Evaluating Grants

by Holden Karnofsky Published July 22, 2015

Note: Before the launch of the Open Philanthropy Project Blog, this post appeared on the GiveWell Blog. Uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to the Open Philanthropy Project or to GiveWell as an organization. Additional comments may be available at the original post.

This post is third in a series on fundamental (and under-discussed) questions about philanthropy that we’ve grappled with in starting a grantmaking organization (see previous link for the series intro, and this link for the second installment). This post covers the following questions: [node:read-more:link]

Geomagnetic Storms: Using Extreme Value Theory to Gauge the Risk

by David Roodman Published July 13, 2015

Note: Before the launch of the Open Philanthropy Project Blog, this post appeared on the GiveWell Blog. Uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to the Open Philanthropy Project or to GiveWell as an organization. Additional comments may be available at the original post.

This is the third post in a series about geomagnetic storms as a global catastrophic risk. A paper covering the material in this series was just released. [node:read-more:link]

Global Catastrophic Risks
Geomagnetic Storms

Key Questions about Philanthropy, Part 2: Choosing Focus Areas and Hiring Program Staff

by Holden Karnofsky Published July 09, 2015

Note: The Open Philanthropy Project was formerly known as GiveWell Labs. Before the launch of the Open Philanthropy Project Blog, this post appeared on the GiveWell Blog. Uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to the Open Philanthropy Project or to GiveWell as an organization. Additional comments may be available at the original post.

This post is second in a series on fundamental questions about philanthropy that we’ve grappled with in starting a grantmaking organization (see link for the series intro). In this post, we discuss the following questions: [node:read-more:link]

Geomagnetic Storms: History’s Surprising, if Tentative, Reassurance

by David Roodman Published July 02, 2015

Note: Before the launch of the Open Philanthropy Project Blog, this post appeared on the GiveWell Blog. Uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to the Open Philanthropy Project or to GiveWell as an organization. Additional comments may be available at the original post.

This is the second post in a series about geomagnetic storms as a global catastrophic risk. A paper covering the material in this series was just released. [node:read-more:link]

Global Catastrophic Risks
Geomagnetic Storms