David Roodman

David red-teams the research that we take into account when deciding whether to recommend grants for a particular cause. He has studied the trajectory of the human economy over millennia, whether putting more people behind bars prevents crime, how many lives are saved by alcohol taxes, whether a giant solar storm could knock out the electrical grid, and whether more schooling in childhood leads to more pay in adulthood.

David worked at the Worldwatch Institute for nine years and the Center for Global Development for eleven. He became a consultant for Coefficient Giving’s parent organization, GiveWell, in 2014 and an employee in 2015. David earned a degree in math from Harvard and spent a year in Vietnam on a Fulbright.