An organization that would fulfill a role similar to GiveWell, but for people looking to invest money ethically in businesses. Ethical Investment could evaluate companies on how much their business reduces x-risk, improves the human condition, as well as other factors like environmental impact. What would save this from outright hippiedom is that it’s actually encouraging investment in worthwhile companies, not saying “boo capitalism”.
Potential problems
I am pretty ignorant about business issues so I don’t know whether this is even possible. Is this data available, and if so is it legal to publish it? Could publishing critical data count as defamation, or whatever the business equivalent is?
How to profit from doing this—doesn’t spring to mind immediately.
Is this data available, and if so is it legal to publish it?
The job of this hypothetical business is to find these things out, and publish them. Answering this question yourself is therefore part of the work required to create such a business, but the short answer is that it’s available if you can find it, and by and large, if it’s true it’s legal to publish (but beware of Swiss laws on business secrets).
How to profit from doing this—doesn’t spring to mind immediately.
Invest in what you’re recommending.
Publish a free web site and offer a paid newsletter.
When you have built up enough reputation that people with serious money start asking you for advice, sell it to them.
Become an investment company and invest other people’s money for them.
The job of this hypothetical business is to find these things out, and publish them. Answering this question yourself is therefore part of the work required to create such a business, but the short answer is that it’s available if you can find it, and by and large, if it’s true it’s legal to publish (but beware of Swiss laws on business secrets).
That makes a lot of sense, it would be hard to have a service that clarifies and presents already available material be illegal somehow. Defamation laws in Ireland are pretty stupid though.
Invest in what you’re recommending.
Publish a free web site and offer a paid newsletter.
When you have built up enough reputation that people with serious money start asking you for advice, sell it to them.
Become an investment company and invest other people’s money for them.
Well beyond my (current) knowledge and abilities, but seems a solid plan.
Ethical investment.
Will investigate this further when I have more time.
Are you serious?
Not really. Only a tiny bit at most. I would not like to publish damning material on a very powerful corporation, but I guess one could focus on publishing positive material on good companies instead, if that was a concern.
Could you use GoodGuide as a starting point (http://developer.goodguide.com/docs)? You could aggregate data on products produced by company X and use that as part of a “ethical product prospectus”. Of course you might have to design modified metrics to indicate things like “human condition improvement” etc.
First off-the-top-of-my-head idea:
An organization that would fulfill a role similar to GiveWell, but for people looking to invest money ethically in businesses. Ethical Investment could evaluate companies on how much their business reduces x-risk, improves the human condition, as well as other factors like environmental impact. What would save this from outright hippiedom is that it’s actually encouraging investment in worthwhile companies, not saying “boo capitalism”.
Potential problems
I am pretty ignorant about business issues so I don’t know whether this is even possible. Is this data available, and if so is it legal to publish it? Could publishing critical data count as defamation, or whatever the business equivalent is?
How to profit from doing this—doesn’t spring to mind immediately.
May already exist.
Assassination.
I’m sure there are others.
The job of this hypothetical business is to find these things out, and publish them. Answering this question yourself is therefore part of the work required to create such a business, but the short answer is that it’s available if you can find it, and by and large, if it’s true it’s legal to publish (but beware of Swiss laws on business secrets).
Invest in what you’re recommending.
Publish a free web site and offer a paid newsletter.
When you have built up enough reputation that people with serious money start asking you for advice, sell it to them.
Become an investment company and invest other people’s money for them.
Ethical investment.
Are you serious?
Of course he isn’t. Nobody makes money in assassination these days, the market is oversold.
He was listing assassination as a potential concern for people pursuing this particular business idea, not as a potential business idea itself.
Thank you for the response!
That makes a lot of sense, it would be hard to have a service that clarifies and presents already available material be illegal somehow. Defamation laws in Ireland are pretty stupid though.
Well beyond my (current) knowledge and abilities, but seems a solid plan.
Will investigate this further when I have more time.
Not really. Only a tiny bit at most. I would not like to publish damning material on a very powerful corporation, but I guess one could focus on publishing positive material on good companies instead, if that was a concern.
Could you use GoodGuide as a starting point (http://developer.goodguide.com/docs)? You could aggregate data on products produced by company X and use that as part of a “ethical product prospectus”. Of course you might have to design modified metrics to indicate things like “human condition improvement” etc.