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Poverty in Kansas City and the world

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  • Brief recap on Effective Altruism
  • Poverty in the world
  • Poverty in Kansas City
  • Discussion: What can we do?

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Effective Altruism�

Using evidence and analysis to do the most good we can do

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How many are helped, and by how much?

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��

Using the World Bank’s definition of good as “Years of healthy life”��

Cost effectiveness:

Cost effectiveness =

Years of healthy life gained

Cost

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  1. Power laws
  2. The good sh*t is usually health focused
  3. Common errors (voluntourism, disaster relief)
  4. Personal actions to take

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Global poverty

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Your dollar goes further overseas

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  • Fighting malaria
  • Cataract surgery
  • Deworming
  • Vitamin supplementation / iodization
  • Direct cash transfers

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Effective interventions (by RCT)

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  • Voluntourism / mission trips
  • Food supplies (exception: infants & kids)
  • Disaster relief (good occasionally)

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Common but less effective

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Personal actions

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  • Some stats
  • Discussion: Applying the EA lens
  • Potential actions we could take

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Kansas City poverty

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KC poverty rate: 17.3%

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DISCUSSION: With an EA lens, what problems should we focus on?

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  • Pick an effective policy & make it happen
  • Boost a neighborhood revitalization program
  • Fix bottlenecks in mentorship programs
  • Consult w/local funders on effective giving

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Some potential actions

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Questions?

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DISCUSSION: Values & goals

What should the ultimate values of the group be? Given those, what should our goals be?

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  • Create a warm, visible community in KC
  • Build a sustainable organization
  • Help people optimize impact in careers (uni?)
  • Test projects w/high Expected Value in KC
  • Influence city public debate and policies

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DISCUSSION: Goals (some ideas below)

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  • Present EA to other groups to spread ideas
  • Estimate impact of local charities, share result
  • Work w/international org based in KC
  • Gently encourage more ppl to take pledges
  • Policy proposals to city officials

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DISCUSSION: Possible projects

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Reference slides if relevant

5.4 million children under 5 years of age died in 2017.

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Around 80% of these deaths were preventable with basic health care.

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Median full time salary in UK £29,000

= 27 × median world income

Minimum wage in UK £15,000

= 14 × median world income

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What most people think:

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What global priorities researchers think:

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Neglectedness

Effective Altruism