Written proposal must be approved by Department Chair. Seminars for the group study of selected topics, which will vary from year to year. Topics may be initiated by students.

The purpose of this course is to inform students how they can “do good” in as effective a way
as possible with their careers, especially within economics and related fields (including, but not
limited to CS, applied math, epidemiology, political science, and neuroscience). The course
combines practical lessons from economics with theoretical concepts from the philosophy of
ethics to equip students with introductory skills that can help them identify and work toward
solving some of the world’s most pressing problems. To help students identify the “roots” of
these problems, global issues are framed not only as market failures but as moral blind spots
such as exhibited in the efficiency-equity tradeoff and McNamara Fallacy (Spotlight Effect).
“Effective altruism” is a growing, interdisciplinary movement centered around the question of
how we can help others as much as possible given the resources available. Applying the
economic concepts of efficiency to the domain of morality, effective altruists aim not just to
make the world better, but to make it as good as possible. What that means in practice is a very
difficult question to answer.

Repeat Rules