Yew-Kwang Ng

#38 - Prof Ng on anticipating effective altruism decades ago & how to make a much happier world

Prof Ng, Yew-Kwang Ng, Keiran Harris, Rob Wiblin

Yu-Kwang Ng, an economist who independently pioneered core effective altruism concepts in the 1990s, advocates for a hedonistic utilitarian framework that prioritizes subjective well-being as the sole intrinsic moral value to guide public policy. His research proposes specific interventions ranging from high progressive taxation to correct relative competition and environmental externalities, to the development of brain stimulation technologies and welfare biology for mitigating wild animal suffering and existential risks. By rejecting traditional deontological and capability-based ethical systems in favor of cardinal utility comparisons, Ng urges a global shift toward policies that maximize net welfare across current and future generations.