Ulf Graf 🔹
Bio
Participation2
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
How others can help me
Help me start EA Systemic Change or collaborate when it comes to teaching students.
How I can help others
I am good at finding articles, I have much knowledge about public health and I have quite many connections in the EA community. I am also doing a little research and I have knowledge about things that may not be very common in the EA community. E.g. welfare systems, income equality, global mental health and so on. I am also good at teaching at the university. So I would gladly help if you need it!
Posts 4
Comments41
I was interested in altruism and acts of kindness before I heard of effective altruism. With effective altruism, I distributed my money from "common" charities to charities that are more effective. I have also helped organizations that I thought could make the most impact. I started volunteering for Happier Lives Institute in 2019, which would never have happened if I didn't know about effective altruism.
Thank you for a really good overview! I will use some of these numbers for my lectures about global health! I have not held lectures about global health for a couple of years so even if I have talked about most of these areas the numbers need to be updated. You covered it really well! :)
Kind regards,
Ulf Graf
Thank you very much! I wrote input to the UN together with Cool Earth and Equal Right: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/ohchr-cfis/transition/subm-just-transition-hr-ind-ulf-graf-halmstad-university-equal-right-wageningen-university-cool-earth-arth.pdfÂ
I share your frustration and I am not sure about what to do. This post says that if 3,5 % of a population is active in peaceful social change, change will happen: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/do-protests-work-a-critical-reviewÂ
Check the general channel in the Slack Group "Improving Institutional Decision Making". Maybe you should apply and see if it is something for you?
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You're welcome! Thank you for the information! Yes, it is true that people who benefit from the current structures use their money and power to gain more money and power. I have made a forum post about green basic income, in the end of the post I try to give some suggestions: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/tAF4zQSfDGpABLCaH/green-basic-income-and-health-taxes-as-a-way-for-systemicÂ
I also co-authored the systems change 101: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/bwZ6HqRSjYh5DS99r/systems-change-101Â
I hope that those posts might give you some inspiration!
Hi Janika! I really like your ideas! I think Equal Right is closest to your ideas since they promote a low global basic income and a global wealth tax (and some other taxes and fees): https://www.equalright.org/Â
UN has a Universal Periodic Review about human rights. Having something similar for the SDG:s or global risks would probably be fruitful: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/upr-homeÂ
I hope my comment is helpful!
Thank you for a really interesting and well-written article! I am a lecturer in public health and have lectures about the interconnection between global societal and ecological crises. I have heard about the weakening of the Gulf Stream and that it could make it colder, but I have never seen detailed examples of the consequences of AMOC collapse. AMOC collapse togehter with things that I already talk about seems really problematic. E.g. 99% of coral reefs are expected to be dead by 2050. 44% (48 million km2) of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture. 33% of all soil is already degraded and 90% is estimated to be degraded by 2050.
Thanks again for a super interesting article!
Equal Right is testing a similar model in Palau and Tuvalu: https://www.equalright.org/Â
I guess you have already heard of it, but I put the link here just in case, because I really like their idea. :)
It sounds like a more effective version of Moai in Okinawa. It will be interesting to see how it goes!
https://www.bluezones.com/2018/08/moai-this-tradition-is-why-okinawan-people-live-longer-better/
I wish you luck with this project!
First of all, I want to thank you for your posts. Many of them have given me new perspectives and knowledge that I appreciate. I want to mention that the two-parameter ortega model probably is a better measurement for inequality, but it isn't used very much so it is hard to find any numbers.
I also want to mention that income inequality is problematic, since it correlates with almost all societal problems. Social mobility is greater in countries with low income inequality, since they have more robust welfare systems. It is easier to achieve the "American dream" in the Nordics for example. Many rich people use tax havens (but most don't) for avoiding taxes. Another problem is when rich people use their wealth for lobbying, changing public opinion, changing politics in ways that makes the poor poorer and the rich richer. An example below is a comparison between the United States and Sweden. A country with a high degree of inequality and a country with a low degree of income inequality. As you can see, Sweden has higher taxes, and also a higher union density, which might reduce the power of the rich. Which also makes those two things targets when rich people uses their power to increase their power and wealth. Sweden also has a more robust welfare system that helps people in poverty and also increases social mobility. I hope that my comment is helpful and that you appreciate it. I am happy to answer if you have any questions.
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Income tax for people earning below 50 000 USD: 10-12 %.
Income tax for people earning over 50 000 USD: 22-37 %.
Value-added tax on goods and services: None.
Instead some states have sales tax on around 6 %.
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: 25 % and all purchasers pay value-added tax. It amounts for 47 % of the total budget for the Swedish state.
GINI-index: 0.395.
Federal spending 23 %.
Employed in public sector: 15 %.
Share of people belonged to unions: 10 %.
GINI-index: 0.281.
Federal spending: 48 %.
Employed in public sector: 29 %.
Share of people belonged to unions: 65 %.
Net childcare costs for a couple with average wage: 32 %.
Cost for one year in college: Over 9 000 USD / year.
Health care: Mostly expensive.
Net childcare costs for a couple with average wage: 5 %.
Cost for one year in college: None, you get money for that.
Health care: Practically free.