Volunteer's Folly

Volunteering time where your money (from an hour of paid work) could do vastly more good is an economically irrational use of comparative advantage.

• A surgeon who earns $500 an hour volunteering to paint a school for a day — the same time spent working and donating the proceeds could hire professional painters and fund ten more schools.
• A CEO who volunteers at a food bank instead of making a donation equivalent to a few hours of their salary.
• Dobelli argues we volunteer because it feels good and is visible — not because it is the most effective use of our ability to help.