Why cutting the $600 jobless benefit won't help employment

+ how loneliness affects the brain, building with infected ash trees US Edition - Today's top story: Yes, most workers can collect more in coronavirus unemployment than they earn – but that doesn't mean Congress should cut the $600 supplement [View in browser]( US Edition | 4 August 2020 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Millions of Americans who lost their jobs due to the pandemic are beginning to receive their first unemployment checks without the $600 federal supplement. As lawmakers debate whether to extend the coronavirus program – and how much to provide – Republicans contend the payout disincentivizes work and should be slashed to $200. David Salkever of University of Maryland, Baltimore County crunched the data on wages and unemployment benefits across the country to gauge the impact of the federal supplement. While Salkever found that most workers could collect more on the dole than on the job, that doesn’t mean Republicans are right – [there’s much more to the story](, he explains. Also today: - [The Vatican takes a stand on nuclear weapons]( - [Tracing the roots of Colombia’s drug trade]( - [Game theory could help medical supply chain bottlenecks]( Bryan Keogh Senior Editor, Economy + Business The $600 federal jobless benefit expired on July 31. Joe Raedle/Getty Images [Yes, most workers can collect more in coronavirus unemployment than they earn – but that doesn’t mean Congress should cut the $600 supplement]( David Salkever, University of Maryland, Baltimore County The $600 federal jobless benefit may be generous, but that doesn't mean is isn't what workers and the US economy need. Health - [The loneliness of social isolation can affect your brain and raise dementia risk in older adults]( Karra Harrington, Pennsylvania State University; Martin J. Sliwinski, Pennsylvania State University The social isolation older adults are experiencing as they try to stay safe from the coronavirus pandemic is raising new mental health risks, but people can take steps to protect themselves. - [The raging competition for medical supplies is not a game, but game theory can help]( Anna Nagurney, University of Massachusetts Amherst The toll of the pandemic has been worsened because of the shock to the global supply chain, which resulted in shortages of vital medical equipment. Could game theory help? Ethics + Religion - [75 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vatican is providing moral guidance on nuclear weapons]( Drew Christiansen, Georgetown University; Carole Sargent, Georgetown University As Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff in the nuclear era to call for total disarmament, all of us – whether secular or religious – can engage through creative and proactive moral responsibility. Economy + Business - [Marijuana fueled Colombian drug trade before cocaine was king]( Lina Britto, Northwestern University Step aside, Pablo Escobar. New research shows it was poor farmers who helped turn Colombia into the world's largest drug producer when they started growing and exporting pot in the 1970s. Politics + Society - [Political conventions today are for partying and pageantry, not picking nominees]( Barbara Norrander, University of Arizona Political conventions used to pick presidential nominees in private. Now the public picks the nominee and then the party has a big party at the convention, writes a scholar of US elections. Arts + Culture - [Making the most of a tree epidemic]( Sasa Zivkovic, Cornell University; Leslie Lok, Cornell University With trees infested by the emerald ash borer deemed essentially worthless, a team of designers wanted to see if the decaying wood could be repurposed as a building material. Science + Technology - [Deciding how and whether to reopen schools is complex – here’s how rocket scientists would develop a plan]( Robert Bordley, University of Michigan A systems engineering expert applies the same method NASA's Project Apollo engineers used to offer a systematic approach to deciding on school reopening at a local level. From our international editions - [‘I don’t care about Hitler’: Wiley and the rise of antisemitism]( Bryan Cheyette, University of Reading Grime artist is among many who don't seem to see anti-Jewish views as racism. - [The business of sports resumes amid COVID-19, but at what cost?]( Cheri L. Bradish, Ryerson University Sports is typically a reflection of society, not an exception to it. COVID-19 seems to have turned the model of professional sport inside out. - [Sperm fooled scientists for 350 years – they spin not swim]( Hermes Gadêlha, University of Bristol Our breakthrough discovery has found that sperm aren't "swimmers" after all. You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe](. 89 South Street - Suite 202 Boston, MA 02111