I am a lecturer in public health at Halmstad University, Sweden. Since 2019, I have been helping Happier Lives Institute. My main interests are systemic change, tax policy, global health, climate change and public health. I made a forum post about green basic income, and it was the base for this input to the UN together with Cool Earth: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uAzSycfm190C1hnVDCnYTXK2d1tvw0WsbfE8RJYvw2U/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4h2l20plkgwz
Ulf Graf 🔹
Thank you very much! I am happy that you liked it! I hope that Effective Environmentalism will have use for it! :)
Of 1500 climate policies that have been implemented over the past 25 years, the 63 most successful ones are in this article (that I don’t have access to, but a good summary is here). The 63 policies reduced between 0.6 billion and 1.8 billion metric tonnes CO2 emissions. The typical effects that the 63 most effective policies had, could close the emissions gap by 26%-41%. Pricing is most effective in developed countries, while regulations are the most effective policies in developing countries. The climate policy explorer shows the best policies for different countries and sectors. I just wanted to write this if EA:s who are interested in climate change and policy have missed this.
Kind regards,
Ulf Graf
UlfJohansson’s Quick takes
I have a table here showing the difference between a country with low taxes (United States) and a country with high taxes (Sweden). What I want to say with the table is that people who are unemployed have much more money in Sweden compared to the US. Also, in Sweden the taxes are making the costs lower for elderly care, child care, education, health care, medicine and so on. So even if the taxes are higher, you probably have better access to health care, medicine and financial aid in Sweden even if you are living on a minimum income. Because of the redistribution of money, taxes are giving money to people in poverty.
United States Sweden Income tax for people earning below 50 000 USD: 10-12 %.
Income tax for people earning over 50 000 USD: 22-37 %.
Income tax for people earning below 50 000 USD: 31 %.
Income tax for people earning over 50 000 USD: 51 %.
Value-added tax on goods and services: None.
Instead some states have sales tax on around 6 %.
Value-added tax on goods and services: 25 % and all purchasers pay value-added tax. It amounts for 47 % of the total budget for the Swedish state. Benefits in unemployment, share of previous income after five years: 9 %. Benefits in unemployment, share of previous income after five years: 60 %. Adequacy of minimum income benefits for a single person with no children: 6 % of median disposable income. Adequacy of minimum income benefits for a single person with no children: 42 % of median disposable income. Net childcare costs for a couple with average wage: 32 %.
Cost for one year in college: Over 9 000 USD / year.
Net childcare costs for a couple with average wage: 5 %.
Cost for one year in college: None, you get money for that.
Diabetes prevalence: 10.7 %.
Epipen cost: 600-700 USD.
Diabetes prevalence: 5.1 %.
Epipen cost: 40 USD (if your medical expenses exceeeds 300 dollars a year, you get your medicine for free).
The social security contribution paid by the employer (caculated on top of the employee’s salary): 7.65 %. The social security contribution paid by the employer (caculated on top of the employee’s salary): 31.4 %.
A special thanks to Niklas Holmgren and Joel McGuire for the support and comments on the first draft!
By the way… Here is the list of main references if it is easier to look here:Abbott, R., & Bogenschneider, B. (2018). Should robots pay taxes: Tax policy in the age of automation. Harv. L. & Pol’y Rev., 12, 145.
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Guimarães, N. S., Magno, L., de Paula, A. A., Silliman, M., Anderle, R. V. R., Rasella, D., … & Dourado, I. (2023). The effects of cash transfer programmes on HIV/AIDS prevention and care outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies. The Lancet HIV, 10(6), e394-403.
Innovations for Poverty Action. (2015). The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers in Kenya. https://poverty-action.org/study/impact-unconditional-cash-transfers-kenya
Kaiser, K., Bredenkamp, C., & Iglesias, R. (2016). Sin tax reform in the Philippines: transforming public finance, health, and governance for more inclusive development. World Bank Publications.
Kenter, J., Martino, S., Buckton, S., Waddock, S., Agarwal, B., Anger-Kraavi, A., … & Waddell, S. (2024). Ten principles for transforming economics in a time of global crises.
Laguinge, L. A., Gasparini, L. C., & Neidhöfer, G. (2024). The long-run effects of conditional cash transfers: the case of Bolsa Familia in Brazil. Documentos de Trabajo del CEDLAS.
Lee, H., Calvin, K., Dasgupta, D., Krinmer, G., Mukherji, A., Thorne, P., … & Zommers, Z. (2023). Synthesis report of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Longer report. IPCC.
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Sumaila, U. R., Wabnitz, C. C., Teh, L. S., Teh, L. C., Lam, V. W., Sumaila, H., … & Polasky, S. (2024). Utilizing basic income to create a sustainable, poverty-free tomorrow. Cell Reports Sustainability.
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Wollburg, C., Steinert, J. I., Reeves, A., & Nye, E. (2023). Do cash transfers alleviate common mental disorders in low-and middle-income countries? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos one, 18(2), e0281283.
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Green basic income and health taxes as a way for systemic change
Thank you very much, Toby! I think everything is clear, but thanks for the opportunity! It is very kind of you to welcome all new people to the forum, I think it is very important. :)
Cheers,
Ulf
Thank you so much! I have joined now.
Thank you very much CB! It might be a very good combination.
Wow! I would really like to join that Slack! Can you please send me a link? :)
Hi everyone! My name is Ulf Graf. I am a 33 year old lecturer in public health at Halmstad University, Sweden. My main interest now is “Effective Altruism Systemic Change”, so if anyone else is interested, please contact me! I think that green basic income (basic income funded by green taxation) has most potential for systemic change.
So now I am looking more into taxes that can change the world (at least a little). Because with taxes, it may be possible to tackle poverty, climate change, animal suffering, health problems and premature death and also fund basic income. Environmental taxes like carbon taxes, energy taxes, deforestation taxes, meat taxes, aviation fuel taxes, shipping-fuel taxes, green land value tax and the polluter pays principle may be helpful in that case. Charity Entrepreneurship has suggested charities that try to reduce alcohol, tobacco and sodium consumption. So health taxes are also interesting because alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy food and air pollution accounts for 29,4 million deaths and 819 million DALY annually.
I became interested in effective altruism because I had made my bachelor’s thesis about buddhist views of altruism and was looking for articles about altruism. In 2019, I clicked on the Happier Lives Institute’s research agenda and thought it was really interesting. So I replied to everything in that agenda in an email and said that I wanted to volunteer there. Since then I jave been helping out there in periods. I also have been a board member of the Swedish Netwok for Global Mental Health. I am also trying to start a research project that is “dance on prescription”, since I have been dancing a lot. But I am interested in global health, mental health, happiness, climate change, public health and other things as well.
Fun fact 1: I was at a hilarious job interview once. A 65-year-old professor and her 45-year-old secretary interviewed me for a job as a research assistant.
”What do you do on your leisure time?” the professor asked.
”I am doing pole dancing,” I said because I was going on a pole fitness course.
”I don’t know what it is. Can you please explain that for me?”
“Well...”
”It is when you are dancing around a pole,” the secretary said and tried to change topic for the conversation.
”That sounds great! My husband never wants to dance with me so I should put up a pole in my bedroom so we can dance.”
She was thinking pole dancing was dancing around a small maypole. When the interview was over, the secretary told her what pole dancing was and they laughed so they bursted out in tears. I got the job.Fun fact 2: Ulf means wolf and Graf means grave in old norse. It may sound cool but it is a dorky name and only popular among people who are over 80-years-old.
References:
Global Burden of Disease Collaborators & Ärnlöv, J. (2020). Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet, 396(10258), 1223-1249.
Murray, C. J. (2019). Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet, 393(10184), 1958-72.Sumaila, U. R., Wabnitz, C. C., Teh, L. S., Teh, L. C., Lam, V. W., Sumaila, H., … & Polasky, S. (2024). Utilizing basic income to create a sustainable, poverty-free tomorrow. Cell Reports Sustainability.
All the best,
Ulf Graf
Creative writing contest: Doing your best to make others happy—An effective altruism story
Name: List of mental health apps.
What is it?
Mental health apps from a systematic review, research papers and pilot studies.
Why do you like it?
I have not tried these. But they seem to be promising because of the research behind them.
Where to start?
The list of the most promising apps against mental illness according to a systematic review (Miralles et al., 2020):
Actissist and UCSF PRIME reduced psychotic symptoms and symptoms of schizophrenia.
Virtual Hope Box reduced self-harming and suicidal behaviour.
Agoraphobia free reduced symptoms of agoraphobia.
Challenger reduced general anxiety and social anxiety.
MoodHacker and SuperBetter reduce depression.
SuperBetter increased pain management and reduced depression (d= 1.05) (Roepke et al., 2015; Devan et al., 2019; Miralles et al., 2020).
PTSD Coach reduced PTSD symptoms (d= .41), depressive symptoms (d= .45) and increased psychosocial functioning (d= .51) (Kuhn et al., 2017).
Some additional apps are listed here:
Mindease reduced anxiety. A pilot study showed a 51 % reduction in anxiety (Brietbart, 2018).
Happify increased positive mood with 27 % and well-being with 11 % during a 8 week trial and it had a dose-response relationship (Carpenter et al., 2016; Parks et al., 2018).
TeleCoach reduced hazardous alcohol use (d= 1.37) (Berman et al., 2020).
‘Calm’ and ’Headspace use mindfulness and guided meditation. Headspace reduced anxiety and depression. It also increased positive affect and well-being (Bostock et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020).
‘CBTi Coach’ and Moodmission uses CBT principles and techniques (Wang et al., 2020).
Additional evidence-based apps against mental illness can be found at the United Kingdom National Health Service: https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/category/mental-health/
There are many systematic reviews, meta-analyses and other research that look at more apps. It would be good to do an overview over the evidence and accessability in the field of mental health apps.
References
Berman, A. H., Molander, O., Tahir, M., Törnblom, P., Gajecki, M., Sinadinovic, K., & Andersson, C. (2020). Reducing Risky Alcohol Use via Smartphone App Skills Training Among Adult Internet Help-Seekers: A Randomized Pilot Trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11.
Bostock, S., Crosswell, A. D., Prather, A. A., & Steptoe, A. (2019). Mindfulness on-the-go: Effects of a mindfulness meditation app on work stress and well-being. Journal of occupational health psychology, 24(1), 127.
Brietbart. (2018). Mind Ease: a promising new mental health intervention. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/kuZz3aB6Z7tciEhG5/mind-ease-a-promising-new-mental-health-intervention
Carpenter, J., Crutchley, P., Zilca, R. D., Schwartz, H. A., Smith, L. K., Cobb, A. M., & Parks, A. C. (2016). Seeing the “big” picture: big data methods for exploring relationships between usage, language, and outcome in internet intervention data. Journal of medical Internet research, 18(8), e241.
Devan, H., Farmery, D., Peebles, L., & Grainger, R. (2019). Evaluation of self-management support functions in apps for people with persistent pain: systematic review. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(2), e13080.
Fu, Z., Burger, H., Arjadi, R., & Bockting, C. L. (2020). Effectiveness of digital psychological interventions for mental health problems in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry.
Kuhn, E., Kanuri, N., Hoffman, J. E., Garvert, D. W., Ruzek, J. I., & Taylor, C. B. (2017). A randomized controlled trial of a smartphone app for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 85(3), 267–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000163
Miralles, I., Granell, C., Díaz-Sanahuja, L., Van Woensel, W., Bretón-López, J., Mira, A., … & Casteleyn, S. (2020). Smartphone apps for the treatment of mental disorders: systematic review. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(4), e14897.
Parks, A. C., Williams, A. L., Tugade, M. M., Hokes, K. E., Honomichl, R. D., & Zilca, R. D. (2018). Testing a scalable web and smartphone based intervention to improve depression, anxiety, and resilience: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Wellbeing, 8(2).
Roepke, A. M., Jaffee, S. R., Riffle, O. M., McGonigal, J., Broome, R., & Maxwell, B. (2015). Randomized controlled trial of SuperBetter, a smartphone-based/internet-based self-help tool to reduce depressive symptoms. Games for health journal, 4(3), 235-246.
Wang, L., Fagan, C., & Yu, C. L. (2020). Popular mental health apps (MH apps) as a complement to telepsychotherapy: Guidelines for consideration. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 30(2), 265.
Thank you all for your comments! I agree that these policies may not have a massive global impact in the same way as clean energy policies, but 26 to 41 % in reductions is still a lot. I believe that additional effort and innovation-support is important as well. But carbon pricing and things like innovation-support can be combined. The Swiss CO2 Levy uses carbon pricing to give money to innovation, for example (see text below). As you see in the text below and in this graph by OECD, the cost for raising prices for carbon emissions can increase revenues as well. But I agree that it would be more interesting with an article with pure focus on cost-effectiveness.
I have addressed some of these issues in a previous forum post. I copy and paste a part from it here:
”In Canada, they have a fuel charge of 80 $ per tonne of gasoline and an output-based pricing system for emissions from industries. The Canada Carbon Rebate gives 90 % of this money back to individuals while the rest goes to small- and medium-enterprises, farmers and Indigenous governments. A family of four can get $ 1 800 annually through the carbon rebate, a single adult could get 900 $ (more if the person lives in a rural area). Without their carbon pricing systems, Canada would have approximately 19 million tonnes of more emissions. The Swiss CO2 Levy is imposed on all thermal fossil fuels (142 USD per tonne) and then the 1.42 billion USD it generates is redistributed to the population and it is also going to innovation, renewable heating energy and energy efficient renovations of buildings.”
I hope that I have answered to everything, otherwise I am happy to discuss this further!