I’m trying to figure out how to use this site. It seems like I pick some metrics I care about—maybe height-for-age for starters. So it shows me that deworming did better than school meals at increasing height-for-age. But I don’t know what either of those interventions cost. So if I have $100 that I want to use to increase height-for-age, I’m still not sure which intervention gets me more improvement for my money.
I’m not sure how to pick which metrics to care about—is height-for-age more important than weight-for-age? Neonatal deaths? Labor force participation? I guess one answer is that nobody is all that sure about which metrics to care about, and this is an approach that gives donors more data on specific interventions if they have different priorities than, say, GiveWell’s.
The “portfolio” part isn’t up yet, but I assume it will eventually connect me to some organizations that do those various interventions. I’ll be interested to see which organizations they recommend.
Their point (I assume) is that any kind of comparison between metrics invites some level of subjectivity, and they want to make the raw data as easy to work with as possible. I agree with this sentiment (insofar as there should be at least one organization doing that), but I agree that their presentation of the raw data leaves a lot out in terms of what you actually get for your money and which organizations are good at it.
I’m going to wait a few months for them to flesh out their site before I criticize them too heavily.
I’m trying to figure out how to use this site. It seems like I pick some metrics I care about—maybe height-for-age for starters. So it shows me that deworming did better than school meals at increasing height-for-age. But I don’t know what either of those interventions cost. So if I have $100 that I want to use to increase height-for-age, I’m still not sure which intervention gets me more improvement for my money.
I’m not sure how to pick which metrics to care about—is height-for-age more important than weight-for-age? Neonatal deaths? Labor force participation? I guess one answer is that nobody is all that sure about which metrics to care about, and this is an approach that gives donors more data on specific interventions if they have different priorities than, say, GiveWell’s.
The “portfolio” part isn’t up yet, but I assume it will eventually connect me to some organizations that do those various interventions. I’ll be interested to see which organizations they recommend.
Their point (I assume) is that any kind of comparison between metrics invites some level of subjectivity, and they want to make the raw data as easy to work with as possible. I agree with this sentiment (insofar as there should be at least one organization doing that), but I agree that their presentation of the raw data leaves a lot out in terms of what you actually get for your money and which organizations are good at it.
I’m going to wait a few months for them to flesh out their site before I criticize them too heavily.
Fair enough. It does seem to have potential, and we’re a hard crowd to please.