Gustav Alexandrie
@gustavalexandrie.bsky.social
Econ PhD student at UZH. Interested in welfare econ, including both theory (e.g., social choice) and applications to important issues such as growth, inequality, and catastrophic risks.
My website: http://sites.google.com/view/gustav-alexandrie/
My website: http://sites.google.com/view/gustav-alexandrie/
John Broome's "Weighing Goods".
November 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
John Broome's "Weighing Goods".
The algorithm works in mysterious ways.
July 1, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The algorithm works in mysterious ways.
Intressant nog är denna kontrovers fortfarande aktiv, med stora skillnader i hur forskare inom olika inriktningar inom antropologin (biologisk vs kulturell) ser på det hela.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...
June 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Intressant nog är denna kontrovers fortfarande aktiv, med stora skillnader i hur forskare inom olika inriktningar inom antropologin (biologisk vs kulturell) ser på det hela.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...
Very large differences. Moreover, they persist when one looks at fatalities per vehicle-kilometres rather than per person.
April 29, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Very large differences. Moreover, they persist when one looks at fatalities per vehicle-kilometres rather than per person.
Legendarily repugnant accuracy!
April 24, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Legendarily repugnant accuracy!
Lots a factual mistakes in this article. For example, the claim that effective altruism is a right-leaning movement is blatantly false.
March 29, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Lots a factual mistakes in this article. For example, the claim that effective altruism is a right-leaning movement is blatantly false.
Samuelson criticizing Kemp & Ng's Axiom 3:
"For any ethical observer to understand Axiom 3 is to reject it"
The entire opening is worth reading:
"For any ethical observer to understand Axiom 3 is to reject it"
The entire opening is worth reading:
March 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Samuelson criticizing Kemp & Ng's Axiom 3:
"For any ethical observer to understand Axiom 3 is to reject it"
The entire opening is worth reading:
"For any ethical observer to understand Axiom 3 is to reject it"
The entire opening is worth reading:
This is basically the view that Taurek (unironically as far as I can tell) defends: sites.pitt.edu/~mthompso/re...
March 18, 2025 at 9:52 AM
This is basically the view that Taurek (unironically as far as I can tell) defends: sites.pitt.edu/~mthompso/re...
So, Elon and his non-famous minion are the only two you can name?
Elon has to my knowledge never endorsed EA. He once tweeted that he liked MacAskill's book. He also endorsed Greta Thunberg/climate activism, LGBT rights, free speech and pizza with pineapple. Doesn't reflect badly on those causes.
Elon has to my knowledge never endorsed EA. He once tweeted that he liked MacAskill's book. He also endorsed Greta Thunberg/climate activism, LGBT rights, free speech and pizza with pineapple. Doesn't reflect badly on those causes.
March 16, 2025 at 11:30 PM
So, Elon and his non-famous minion are the only two you can name?
Elon has to my knowledge never endorsed EA. He once tweeted that he liked MacAskill's book. He also endorsed Greta Thunberg/climate activism, LGBT rights, free speech and pizza with pineapple. Doesn't reflect badly on those causes.
Elon has to my knowledge never endorsed EA. He once tweeted that he liked MacAskill's book. He also endorsed Greta Thunberg/climate activism, LGBT rights, free speech and pizza with pineapple. Doesn't reflect badly on those causes.
Anecdotal evidence from bookshops suggests that the book is popular in East Asia!
(Photos from Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur that I took awhile ago and intended to send to you, but had forgotten about until now)
(Photos from Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur that I took awhile ago and intended to send to you, but had forgotten about until now)
March 8, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Anecdotal evidence from bookshops suggests that the book is popular in East Asia!
(Photos from Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur that I took awhile ago and intended to send to you, but had forgotten about until now)
(Photos from Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur that I took awhile ago and intended to send to you, but had forgotten about until now)
There has been recent progress in the academic literature on this topic.
March 7, 2025 at 4:47 AM
There has been recent progress in the academic literature on this topic.
Three of the "New & upvoted" posts on EA forum are about the USAID freeze.
One could argue that EAs should focus even more on the other aspects (e.g., undermining democracy etc). Here I just wanted to push back on what seemed like OP's implicit assumption that EAs somehow endorse this shitshow.
One could argue that EAs should focus even more on the other aspects (e.g., undermining democracy etc). Here I just wanted to push back on what seemed like OP's implicit assumption that EAs somehow endorse this shitshow.
February 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Three of the "New & upvoted" posts on EA forum are about the USAID freeze.
One could argue that EAs should focus even more on the other aspects (e.g., undermining democracy etc). Here I just wanted to push back on what seemed like OP's implicit assumption that EAs somehow endorse this shitshow.
One could argue that EAs should focus even more on the other aspects (e.g., undermining democracy etc). Here I just wanted to push back on what seemed like OP's implicit assumption that EAs somehow endorse this shitshow.
It is not hard to find out the answer to this question: just check what EA people (including 'EA leaders') have commented and reposted on the topic and you will see that they deeply disapprove of what is happening.
Took me less than 1 minute to find these examples:
Took me less than 1 minute to find these examples:
February 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
It is not hard to find out the answer to this question: just check what EA people (including 'EA leaders') have commented and reposted on the topic and you will see that they deeply disapprove of what is happening.
Took me less than 1 minute to find these examples:
Took me less than 1 minute to find these examples:
Yes, I was also surprised by Hungary's score. Looks like the thing that is holding up its overall score is "Electoral process and pluralism", where it gets a surprisingly high score.
January 27, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Yes, I was also surprised by Hungary's score. Looks like the thing that is holding up its overall score is "Electoral process and pluralism", where it gets a surprisingly high score.
Evidence of singularity attached. :)
(Image to the left are my handwritten notes; image to the right is Claude's perfect first attempt at rendering in Latex.)
(Image to the left are my handwritten notes; image to the right is Claude's perfect first attempt at rendering in Latex.)
January 27, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Evidence of singularity attached. :)
(Image to the left are my handwritten notes; image to the right is Claude's perfect first attempt at rendering in Latex.)
(Image to the left are my handwritten notes; image to the right is Claude's perfect first attempt at rendering in Latex.)
Yes, good point. I had a look at the data and looks like oil emissions increased substantially in the period 1940-1970 and then slowed down, whereas coal emissions increased much more slowly during this period.
December 4, 2024 at 8:54 PM
Yes, good point. I had a look at the data and looks like oil emissions increased substantially in the period 1940-1970 and then slowed down, whereas coal emissions increased much more slowly during this period.
Regarding emissions from land use changes, I have no idea what accounts for the changes.
December 4, 2024 at 1:09 PM
Regarding emissions from land use changes, I have no idea what accounts for the changes.
Yes, the persistence needs to be explained. A theory that I've heard is that, after the oil embargo in response to the Yom Kippur War, OAPEC realised that they had more market power than they previously thought and could therefore raise oil prices. But I'm sure this is at most a partial explanation.
December 4, 2024 at 1:04 PM
Yes, the persistence needs to be explained. A theory that I've heard is that, after the oil embargo in response to the Yom Kippur War, OAPEC realised that they had more market power than they previously thought and could therefore raise oil prices. But I'm sure this is at most a partial explanation.
A good example (pointed out by Hilary Greaves in this paper: users.ox.ac.uk/~mert2255/pa...) is that Bentham and Mill didn't say much about why welfare should be summed as opposed to being aggregated in some other way (I think the same is true of Sidgwick). Mill didn't even mention summation!
December 2, 2024 at 7:37 PM
A good example (pointed out by Hilary Greaves in this paper: users.ox.ac.uk/~mert2255/pa...) is that Bentham and Mill didn't say much about why welfare should be summed as opposed to being aggregated in some other way (I think the same is true of Sidgwick). Mill didn't even mention summation!
On the innovation point: Kevin Kuruc has a really great new working paper pointing out that even if a larger population size would speed up innovation in calendar time, it would plausibly not speed up innovation in people-years. The latter is arguably what matters from a total-welfare perspective.
November 26, 2024 at 9:02 PM
On the innovation point: Kevin Kuruc has a really great new working paper pointing out that even if a larger population size would speed up innovation in calendar time, it would plausibly not speed up innovation in people-years. The latter is arguably what matters from a total-welfare perspective.
I'm calling it early: the funniest philosophy paper of the year is "The Foresight Response to Money Pumps Refuted in Words of One Syllable".
November 26, 2024 at 5:37 PM
I'm calling it early: the funniest philosophy paper of the year is "The Foresight Response to Money Pumps Refuted in Words of One Syllable".
Given that growth tends to be exponential it is not surprising that incomes in poor countries have not increased as fast as incomes in rich countries in *absolute* terms (figure to the left).
Luckily, incomes in poor countries have increased faster in *relative* terms (figure to the right).
Luckily, incomes in poor countries have increased faster in *relative* terms (figure to the right).
November 25, 2024 at 9:43 PM
Given that growth tends to be exponential it is not surprising that incomes in poor countries have not increased as fast as incomes in rich countries in *absolute* terms (figure to the left).
Luckily, incomes in poor countries have increased faster in *relative* terms (figure to the right).
Luckily, incomes in poor countries have increased faster in *relative* terms (figure to the right).
One of the most striking abstracts I've read:
"the increase in traffic density from a typical additional driver increases total statewide insurance costs of other drivers by $1,725–$3,239 per year [in California]"
From old paper, but huge if correct: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
"the increase in traffic density from a typical additional driver increases total statewide insurance costs of other drivers by $1,725–$3,239 per year [in California]"
From old paper, but huge if correct: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
November 25, 2024 at 6:10 PM
One of the most striking abstracts I've read:
"the increase in traffic density from a typical additional driver increases total statewide insurance costs of other drivers by $1,725–$3,239 per year [in California]"
From old paper, but huge if correct: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
"the increase in traffic density from a typical additional driver increases total statewide insurance costs of other drivers by $1,725–$3,239 per year [in California]"
From old paper, but huge if correct: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....