Clara Murray

Yeah, I hope so! But I do think even if it doesn't save us money, supporting artists is a good way to spend public funds

I'm definitely not an expert on it but I think the idea is that wellbeing gains are an end in themselves

Anyway I am mostly being pedantic here (and of course correct me if I have misinterpreted anything)

I still v much support the scheme but was curious, as others seem to be, how it had generated such a massive financial return

Societal benefits: €100mn, of which almost €80mn is from wellbeing improvements - i.e. participants reporting more life satisfaction

They used the WELLBY framework which values "a one-point increase in life satisfaction sustained over
one year" at €15,000 www.worldhappiness.report/ed/2021/livi...

Fiscal costs: -€72mn (after accounting for increased tax revenues & lower social benefits payouts)

Actually... from my reading of the artists' basic income report, the government did not earn money back from the scheme (although its costs were offset 37%)

Most gains were societal and came from putting the artists' improvements in wellbeing in € terms

assets.gov.ie/static/docum...

Meanwhile I'm starting to doubt the convenience shop iced coffees contain any caffeine

I've been in Japan a week and so far the biggest culture shock has been being surrounded by dozens of places to get really excellent looking coffee, none of which open until 10am

nice, thank you!

this is a really good idea! can you share the prompt you used?

A cool use of AI in newsgathering, this. US companies are talking more and more about the risks rather than the benefits of AI in their SEC filings (while still being super-optimistic in earnings calls). By @melissahei.bsky.social @chriscook.news & @claradoodle.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/e93e...

I actually think going from nowhere ~3 years ago to 4% of all coffee sales is pretty impressive given how much coffee we drink !

love these! I've decided matcha bowls will be my next pottery project

Going green: matcha mania takes hold in UK cafés [FREE TO READ] Trend for Japanese tea-based beverages driven by health benefits and what looks good on social media

Going green: matcha mania takes hold in UK cafés - on.ft.com/426w7Ee

Matcha has been getting more popular for a good few years now but this summer it really took off - with sales doubling in UK cafes vs 2024. 4% of drinks sales are now matcha-based, according to Square payments data🍵

Scrolling through a big csv of Farage tweets is quite the experience

Which country has the highest number of patent applications per million people worldwide?

Do you think you can solve it? Have a try at chartle.cc

Simon Harris and his family have faced credible death threats in recent days.

This morning Elon Musk piles in by falsely claiming Harris is stopping McGregor from running for president.

#dataviz Haven't seen such a breathtakingly garish 3D chart in a very long time

🇺🇸 Staggering partisan divide 🇺🇸

76% of Republicans say they’re satisfied with the direction of the US; less than 1% of Democrats feel the same

Gallup calls it the widest gap ever recorded on this question. Astonishing polarisation 👇

London’s SUVs now take up the same space as Kensington and Chelsea The number of SUVs in London has increased by almost three-quarters of a million since 2002

😵‍💫
www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

Mass hallucinations: In search of the rogue AI reporters How a pitch about warring London chicken shops led Steve Dinneen on a journey from Chicago to Kenya in search of a rogue AI reporter

This is an incredible story from @stevedineen.bsky.social www.cityam.com/mass-halluci...

Chart from the Guardian showing the cumulative area burned each year by wildfires in EU countries. Over one million hectares have been burned so far in 2025, more than the total in any other year this century

Small chart, big problem

Delays to Saudi Arabia’s snow mountain put 2029 Asian Winter Games at risk [FREE TO READ] Kingdom eyes alternative countries to host event after falling behind on construction of desert ski resort

NEW: Saudi is holding internal discussions about having China or South Korea hold the 2029 Asian Winter Games as it struggles to deliver its desert defying ski resort in Neom. on.ft.com/45qlxtK

ah, no it should be annual - thanks for spotting... www.cornwall-insight.com/press-and-me...

UK green power surges with record approvals for new renewable energy capacity Rise in planning permission for projects reflects growing momentum behind Labour government’s clean power push

Full story here on.ft.com/3Hvhhjv

New 📈💨: a record number of renewable power projects were granted planning permission in Q2. Battery storage projects drove a lot of the increase. But developers warn grid connections are still the real bottleneck..

ONS: is it borked? Putting the series in serious journalism

Retail sales are the latest UK data series to suffer from "ONSistis". So we've launched an interactive game — Is It Borked? — for you to guess which data series the ONS has been forced to suspend.

(NB: The answers all come from the ONS so may not be right.) www.ft.com/content/e9bb...

After seeing this excellent chart from the folks at @data.ft.com, we had to see how things look across the water.

Irish solar in 2025 has already overtaken 2024 as of the second half of July, and it looks likely to exceed 1TWh later this year for the first time ☀️

British solar power surges past 2024 total [FREE TO READ] Good weather and rapidly proliferating farms mean solar generation is at record levels

Full story with Rachel Millard here

on.ft.com/4lyFl2K