Rosanna Cantavella

Abstract This study provides causal evidence that cash transfer programs have the potential to alleviate the income-health trap in advanced countries. We analyze the Finnish basic income experiment, which replaced the minimum unemployment benefits with a guaranteed income for 2,000 randomly selected unemployed persons during the years 2017-2018. The guaranteed income removed all job-search requirements, but participants could still choose to claim unemployment benefits and comply with related obligations. The experiment also increased average income by 9%-11%, for two reasons: basic income payments overlapped with benefits due from the pre-experiment period, and basic income was not tapered against labor earnings. Using register data on all prescription medications and secondary care visits, we find that the experiment reduced psychotropic drug use by 8%-11%. Our results also suggest a decline in outpatient mental health visits for secondary care. No effects were detected for other health outcomes. Since most participants opted out of the unconditionality aspect of the experiment and continued to claim unemployment benefits, we attribute the observed health effects primarily to the increased income.

A NEW study of the Finland basic income experiment just dropped. Turns out psychotropic drug use decreased by 8 %–11 %, and incomes increased on average by 9% to 11% due to people not losing the income when they accepted a job, unlike traditional unemployment.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We’re Suing ICE for Its $2 Million Spyware Contract 404 Media has filed a lawsuit against ICE for access to its contract with Paragon, a company that sells powerful spyware for breaking into phones and accessing encrypted messaging apps.

New: We have just sued ICE to demand it turns over a secretive spyware contract that it refuses to release:

www.404media.co/were-suing-i...

Sultana looks to 'reconcile' with Corbyn after party row Post on social media comes after the ex-Labour MPs clashed over the formation of their fledgling left-wing party.

Can you die from face-palming?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“The defining feature of the 21st century is disregard for the sanctity of human life. The livestream is a deathstream with no way to turn it off.”

The Swift Press first edition hardback of ‘Everything Will Swallow You’ (2025) by Tom Cox on its Blackwell’s packaging

Another one’s landed safely @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social - I’ve made a brew and I’m going in 🙏🏻 💙📚

Meanwhile, in case we all forgot, Grok is in charge of procurement for a minor US agency, something called the Pentagon. 🤷‍♀️ www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

"When digital systems are abstracted from place, they become invisible. We lose sight of the true cost of their convenience: the emissions behind a search query or an AI prompt, the land consumed by hyperscale data centers, and the communities they displace or disadvantage."

Antifraude incumplió su ley al denunciar al comisionado de la dana por su falso título sin informarle ni darle audiencia La Agencia de Prevención y Lucha Contra el Fraude de la Comunitat Valenciana que dirige Eduardo Beut realizó toda la investigación a José María Ángel y dos funcionarios sin recabar su versión y solo s...

Com la va incomplir al denunciar-me a mi i tres més pel complement salarial per residència al que teníem dret. Com vam demostrar.
Han convertit una prestigiosa agència, reconeguda per UE i Fiscalia, en una Desokupa macarra contra l’oposició.
@sergipitarch.bsky.social
www.eldiario.es/comunitat-va...

1 in 3 doctors were born overseas.

1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.

1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.

1 in 2 builders were born overseas.

1 in 5 nurses were born overseas.

1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.

The media, their framing, IS the problem

The book was drenched 😔

How Columbia’s Leadership Refashioned the University in Trump’s Image Columbia University President Claire Shipman said the school retained full independence, but it gave in to virtually all of Trump's demands.

Much of what the Trump administration has demanded, Columbia has conceded – though they insist otherwise.

@meghnadbose.bsky.social and I tracked months of government demands and secretive Columbia rule changes, for @theintercept.com.

theintercept.com/2025/08/07/c...

Anas al-Sharif, prominent Al Jazeera correspondent, among five journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza Israel admits deliberate attack on the journalist, known for frontline coverage, in a strike on a tent outside al-Shifa hospital

I have studied the targeting of journalists for many years, but the scale and public display of these killings is truly shocking: “Israel admits deliberate attack on the journalist, known for frontline coverage, in a strike on a tent outside al-Shifa hospital“

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

A Lithuanian phrase that one-ups “as poor as a church mouse” is “the mouse hung itself in the fridge.” An extremely metal Icelandic phrase about having little money is “to sip death from a shell.” But my favourite, from Estonian slang, translates to “I’ve got nothing but a dick and a desolate soul.”

Letter of the day (in the Times)

Nvidia et AMD vont verser 15 % de leurs revenus provenant de la vente de puces en Chine au gouvernement américain C’était une condition pour obtenir les licences d’exportation vers le marché chinois, accordées aux entreprises par Donald Trump au début d’août.

Nvidia et AMD vont verser 15 % de leurs revenus provenant de la vente de puces en Chine au gouvernement américain

Ah yes, I understand. And I suppose Substack does not facilitate its autors using the site just as a mail distributor, does it?

I liked your writing on tom-cox.com. A writer can't be expelled from his own website. Writer Cory Doctorow warned everyone about enshittification (see Wikipedia). Better stick to your own personal platform, I'd say.

Illustration from Nonsenseorship (1922). In this “levititious literary escapade” — as publisher George P. Putnam describes his anthology — some of the wittiest writers of the Jazz Age lambaste the nonsensically censorious atmosphere of prohibition-era US: publicdomainreview.org/collection/n...

YouTube video by NBC News NYC animal shelters hit record crowding as pet surrenders surge

Universal basic income would help with this problem too. No one should have to give up their pet due to loss of ability to afford them.

Antisemitism training designed by pro-Israel groups is becoming compulsory at US colleges. What’s in it? Training asks students to attribute the statement ‘every time I read Hitler, I fall in love’ to an ‘anti-Israel activist’

Universities across the US including Northwestern are introducing pro-Israel training programs. They call them antisemitism awareness training but in an age of doublespeak we must call things what they actually are, not what they claim to be
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... #academia

Hands in air and speech bulb saying 'hello' in different languages

New Post: New report shows a catastrophic decline in formal language learning www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/07/31/n...

Territori millora la connexió en bus entre Gandesa i municipis de la Terra Alta - EbreDigital.cat El Departament de Territori, Habitatge i Transició Ecològica, conjuntament amb el Consell Comarcal de la Terra Alta, ampliarà les circulacions en autobús

Lo que ha de fer Gencat és aclarir les subvencions per l'autobus Tortosa-Lleida. No pot ser q per fer un viatge 2/3 la distancia de Ttsa-BCN, ens costa 4 cops més el bitllet. No volem equilibri territorial i promoure altres zones? Hi ha estudiants deixant 40€/setmana. ebredigital.cat/2025/07/31/e...

The story continues! On the apocalyptic ambitions of top US officials, some of whom believe they were appointed by God to serve a foreign country:

Full article: sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/bearing-wi...

Thanks to sales at etsy.com/uk/shop/StillDisgusted, glad to be able to donate total of £175 to #RejoinEU causes @stayeuropean.bsky.social @ledbydonkeys.org @therejoineuparty.com @marchforrejoin.co.uk @smrrejoinradio.bsky.social @europeanmovement.co.uk Fab handcrafted stuff, all profits donated 🙂🇪🇺👍

5 copies of 'The Illustrated Cairo Genizah', by Nick Posegay and Melonie Schmierer-Lee, stacked on a light brown tabletop. The books' spines are facing the camera. The book is large and the covers are dark red, with the title and authors' names in white. The cover also has a grid of 21 square images each cut out from a different medieval manuscript.

Good news if you like history, manuscripts, or nice books! 'The Illustrated Cairo Genizah' is now available at *greatly* reduced shipping costs via @theul.bsky.social (UK) and Amazon (worldwide) from this link: linktr.ee/nposegay. There's also a free sample file there with the entire first chapter.

Wonderful to see this today @theul.bsky.social - a magnificent choirbook probably from the court of Henry VIII or Henry VIII, with a motet and a five-part mass which appears to be the work of a Welsh Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, John Lloyd (c.1475-1523).

En direct, Gaza : « L’utilisation de la famine contre les civils constitue un crime de guerre », avertit le Programme alimentaire mondial Plusieurs centaines d’ONG, dont Médecins sans frontière, Médecins du Monde et Oxfam, alertent mercredi sur une « famine de masse qui se propage dans la bande de Gaza ». Les organisations appellent à un cessez-le-feu immédiat, à l’ouverture de tous les points de passage terrestres et à la libre circulation de l’aide humanitaire.

En direct, Gaza : « L’utilisation de la famine contre les civils constitue un crime de guerre », avertit le Programme alimentaire mondial

‘We are watching our colleagues waste away’: Aid workers, doctors, journalists risk starvation alongside people in Gaza | CNN Dozens of international humanitarian organizations warned Israel’s blockade of aid into Gaza is endangering the lives of doctors and aid workers, while a major news agency says it is trying to evacuat...

Your tax dollars at work

www.cnn.com/2025/07/22/m...

Sign for furniture showroom that reads SHACK OF SIT

As for my favourite spoonerized business name, it will never not be this furniture showroom in New Zealand...

Today is Spoonerism Day so here’s a list of the top ten best celebrity names when spoonerized…

10. Lude Jaw
9. Bathy Kates
8. Parah Salin
7. Hatt Mancock
6. Sandy Ravage
5. Him Tenman
4. Bean Sean
3. Shartin Meen
2. Rid Kock
1. Cradley Booper