Scott surveys the current state of charter city projects worldwide, from Grand Bahama's potential revival to California Forever's bureaucratic progress to Prospera's legal battles in Honduras. Longer summary

Scott provides updates on several charter city and model city projects around the world. He covers Grand Bahama's potential sale to a charter city company after decades of decline, California Forever's progress through bureaucratic approval processes, Prospera's legal standoff with the Honduran government ahead of elections, and Sherbro Island City in Sierra Leone backed by the grandson of the country's first president and actor Idris Elba. The post ends with brief updates on various other projects, including separatist communities in the US, Trump's Freedom Cities plan, and a new special economic zone in Nevis. Shorter summary

Scott announces the results of the 2025 ACX Grants round, awarding $1.5 million to 42 projects out of 654 applications, covering areas from genetic engineering and disease prevention to AI safety and educational reform. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the results of the 2025 ACX Grants program, which received 654 applications and funded 42 projects across diverse areas including global health, AI safety, metascience, animal welfare, and development economics. The grants range from $5,000 to $150,000 and support initiatives like genetically engineered nutritious corn, screwworm eradication, lead-acid battery recycling programs, organ donation improvement, AI bias research, and various biosecurity and pandemic prevention projects. Scott thanks the funders, Manifund team, and numerous expert evaluators who helped assess applications, and notes that some projects remain in stealth mode. The post concludes with extensive credits to contributors and mentions that the next grants round will likely occur in late 2026 or early 2027. Shorter summary

A roundup of recent developments in charter cities and model city projects, including setbacks for Prospera and NEOM, new proposals in the US, and updates on various other projects worldwide. Longer summary

This post covers recent developments in various charter city and model city projects worldwide. It starts with Prospera in Honduras being declared unconstitutional, discussing their two-pronged strategy of waiting for political change and pursuing international arbitration. It then covers Saudi Arabia's NEOM project scaling back its ambitions, Trump's proposal for 'freedom cities' in America, California Forever's strategic pivot in Solano County, and Bhutan's ambitious Geluphu Mindfulness City project. The post ends with brief updates on other model city projects including Praxis, Fumba, Esmeralda, and Kanye West's Middle East plans. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander announces the winners of ACX Grants 2024, covering a diverse range of projects from medical research to policy advocacy. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the results of the ACX Grants 2024, detailing the winners and their projects. The grants cover a wide range of areas including medical research, technology development, policy advocacy, and scientific studies. Scott explains the selection process, acknowledges contributors, and mentions future plans for the grants program. He also discusses how Manifund will handle payments and create an impact market for unfunded projects. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander responds to comments on his capitalism vs charity post, clarifying his argument and addressing various counterpoints and suggested capitalist charities. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to comments on his previous post about capitalism and charity. He clarifies that he's discussing a specific near-mode situation of how to best use a limited amount of money for improving human welfare, not running a 'Moral Worth Tournament' between capitalism and charity. He addresses arguments for investing in capitalism over charity, discussing issues like compounding returns, marginal utility, and the eventual need for consumption. Scott also explores specific capitalist charities suggested by commenters, including charter cities and microfinance, noting the lack of strong empirical evidence for many of these interventions. He concludes by stating what kind of evidence would change his mind on this topic. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander compares the marginal impact of capitalism vs. charity, finding that traditional charity often seems more effective despite capitalism's historical success. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the question of whether capitalism is more effective than charity in helping others. He compares the impact of investing in a successful company like Instacart to donating to a highly effective charity like Dispensers For Safe Water. While acknowledging capitalism's overall historical success, Scott argues that at the margin, traditional charity often seems to have a greater direct impact. He examines potential second-order effects of capitalism but finds them insufficient to clearly outweigh charity's benefits. The post concludes by considering alternative capitalist-oriented charitable approaches, such as development aid or charter cities, but notes the lack of rigorous evaluation for these options. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander proposes various project ideas for ACX Grants, ranging from scientific research to social initiatives, and encourages readers to pursue them. Longer summary

Scott Alexander proposes several project ideas for the upcoming ACX Grants round. These range from replicating brain entrainment learning results to creating an open-source polygenic score for educational attainment. Other suggestions include campaigns similar to John Green's anti-tuberculosis effort, a novel approach to language teaching, an automatic Implicit Association Test generator, a new dating site concept, a foundation to promote classical art and architecture, and a primer on political change. Scott encourages readers to take on these projects, offering potential publicity and connections to funders. Shorter summary

The post updates on charter cities, covering the repeal of Honduras' ZEDE law, Disney's Reedy Creek dissolution, and new projects like Afropolitan, while discussing ongoing developments and challenges. Longer summary

This post provides updates on several charter city and model city projects. It discusses the repeal of the ZEDE law in Honduras and its impact on existing projects like Prospera, the dissolution of Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District in Florida, and the launch of Afropolitan, a new digital nation concept. The post also covers Prospera's ongoing development despite legal challenges, including new resorts, construction projects, and a gene therapy company. Finally, it touches on other model city developments and provides predictions for the future of these projects. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines recent developments in model cities, including political threats to ZEDEs in Honduras, El Salvador's Bitcoin city plan, and the mysterious Praxis project. Longer summary

This blog post discusses recent developments in model cities and charter cities. It covers the political situation in Honduras affecting ZEDEs, El Salvador's plan for a Bitcoin-themed city, the mysterious Praxis project, and other model city news. The post critically examines each project, analyzing their feasibility, potential impact, and the motivations behind them. Scott Alexander provides context, expresses skepticism where appropriate, and offers insights into the challenges and opportunities these projects face. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explores various modern independence-seeking projects, including charter cities and secessionist movements, discussing their potential and challenges. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses various modern-day independence-seeking projects like charter cities, utopian communes, and secessionist movements. He covers the Free State Project in New Hampshire and a similar proposal for Montenegro in Europe. The post then examines the Charter Cities Institute's claims about the effectiveness of charter cities, including a critical analysis by Rethink Priorities. Scott also describes the Black Hammer organization's plan for Hammer City, a proposed city for people of color. Finally, he discusses the current state of charter cities, including concerns about their size and governance models, and considers whether charter cities can truly drive large-scale economic development. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines Próspera, a new charter city project in Honduras, detailing its plans, governance, and potential impact while addressing criticisms and limitations. Longer summary

Scott Alexander provides a comprehensive overview of Próspera, a new charter city project in Honduras. He explains its origins, current status, ambitious plans, governance structure, and potential impact. The post also addresses criticisms and concerns about the project, while acknowledging its limitations and potential benefits. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander offers a guide for lazy people to donate to effective charities, ranging from easy options like EA Funds to more specific recommendations in various cause areas. Longer summary

Scott Alexander provides a guide for people who want to donate to effective charities but are very lazy. He suggests donating to EA Funds as the easiest option, which allows experts to allocate funds to the best charities. For those with slightly more energy, he recommends checking charity-evaluating organizations like GiveWell, Animal Charity Evaluators, and others. He also mentions specific charities in areas like AI safety, climate change, and election science. For the truly skeptical, he suggests GiveDirectly, which gives money directly to poor people in Africa. Shorter summary