The “Buy One, Get One Free” Ethics of Investing Public and Philanthropic Funds in Health and Climate

Ali A Zaidi

This article applies various ethical frameworks to inform decision making about investment in two specific goods-strengthening public health and stabilizing the global climate. I begin by outlining how these goods traditionally competed for common and constrained resources. I then discuss how this view of competition has been rendered more problematic by emerging and compelling ethical justifications for investment in both goods based on utilitarian, Rawlsian, and communitarian analyses. I conclude by showing that these goods no longer compete head-to-head in a zero-sum way. Changes in science, technology, and society mean that investment in either good has the potential to advance both goods-that is, the goods have become synergistic. As a result, the case for investing in both is better.