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Economy

HAPPINESS DOESN’T COME CHEAPLY!

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HappinessRecent data collected and collated through Gallup Polls and Numbeo and published through the United Nations, shows that countries with people who claim to be the happiest, or most satisfied with their lives do not equate to life being ‘cheap’. Countries where costs of living are the lowest do not show-up as having the happiest or most satisfied populations (there is actually very little difference when comparing results for these two definitions). Nor, perhaps surprisingly, do countries with relatively high taxing regimes show up as having unhappy or dissatisfied populations – quite the contrary.

So what factors contribute to a feeling of happiness or satisfaction?


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Happiness4
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Firstly, countries surveyed do not include those where hostilities are taking place, which would clearly have a big negative effect. Surveys of at least 1,000 people were conducted in each of over 160 other countries.

Secondly, a wide range of criteria was used, reflecting on personal well-being, education, employment and access to media. These variables included GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

Thirdly, results take into account the obvious – income against essential expenditure, the latter incorporating items including local purchasing power, rent or mortgage, cost of groceries, medications, eating out in a restaurant.

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Regardless of the above, ‘happiness’ is still very subjective, and priorities effecting anyone’s life at any time do not necessarily equate to happiness, a preference to live as they are living at that time rather than some other way. Some would even say that happiness has to be earned!
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Saliut in Denmark

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The first list is of the top 20 countries where happiness is assessed as highest – 14 are in Europe or North America. Interestingly, the country with the highest tax burden – Denmark – apparently has the happiest population. The second list identifies countries where costs of living are the most affordable: several European countries feature in this list too, and all are compared with New York City at a base of 100. No country appears in both lists, so apparently happiness does not necessarily equate to affordability of lifestyle!

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[one_third]20. Luxembourg[/one_third][one_third]20. Mexico[/one_third][one_third_last]35.1[/one_third_last]

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[one_third]19. Ireland[/one_third][one_third]19. Romania[/one_third][one_third_last]34.80[/one_third_last]

[one_third]18. Belgium[/one_third][one_third]18. South Africa[/one_third][one_third_last]34.75[/one_third_last]

[one_third]17. Brazil[/one_third][one_third]17. Philippines[/one_third][one_third_last]34.73[/one_third_last]

[one_third]16. Germany[/one_third][one_third]16. Bosnia/Herzegovina[/one_third][one_third_last]34.59[/one_third_last]

[one_third]15. Puerto Rico[/one_third][one_third]15. Sri Lanka[/one_third][one_third_last]34.11[/one_third_last]

[one_third]14. Costa Rica[/one_third][one_third]14. Albania[/one_third][one_third_last]33.81[/one_third_last]

[one_third]13. USA[/one_third][one_third]12. Serbia[/one_third][one_third_last]31.86[/one_third_last]

[one_third]12. Austria[/one_third][one_third]12. Macedonia[/one_third][one_third_last]31.86[/one_third_last]

[one_third]11. Israel[/one_third][one_third]11. Tunisia[/one_third][one_third_last]30.67[/one_third_last]

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[one_third]10. Sweden[/one_third][one_third]10. Columbia[/one_third][one_third_last]29.25[/one_third_last]

[one_third]9. Australia[/one_third][one_third]9. Azerbaijan[/one_third][one_third_last]28.93[/one_third_last]

[one_third]8. New Zealand[/one_third][one_third]8. Algeria[/one_third][one_third_last]28.89[/one_third_last]

[one_third]7. Netherlands[/one_third][one_third]6. Georgia[/one_third][one_third_last]28.71[/one_third_last]

[one_third]6. Canada[/one_third][one_third]6. Ukraine[/one_third][one_third_last]28.71[/one_third_last]

[one_third]5. Finland[/one_third][one_third]5. Nepal[/one_third][one_third_last]27.34[/one_third_last]

[one_third]4. Norway[/one_third][one_third]4. Kazakhstan[/one_third][one_third_last]26.82[/one_third_last]

[one_third]3. Iceland[/one_third][one_third]3. Pakistan[/one_third][one_third_last]26.69[/one_third_last]

[one_third]2. Switzerland[/one_third][one_third]2. Moldova[/one_third][one_third_last]25.70[/one_third_last]

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[one_third]1. Denmark[/one_third][one_third]1. India[/one_third][one_third_last]24.14[/one_third_last]

 

As the Managing Editor at NetWorthPost, I lead a talented team in delivering compelling content on the lives and achievements of influential figures. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I oversee the production of insightful biographies that resonate with our audience. My role involves not only managing the editorial process but also conducting research, crafting engaging narratives, and ensuring the accuracy and quality of our publications. At NetWorthPost, we strive to provide our readers with in-depth profiles that offer valuable insights into the worlds of business, entertainment, and beyond. Through meticulous research and captivating storytelling, we bring to light the remarkable journeys and successes of individuals who inspire and captivate us.

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Economy

Quality Of Life – Net Worth!?

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So in terms of quality of life, just how rich are you? What is your real net worth, your wealth, and not simply in money? How hard do you have to work to satisfy your need for what you want out of life? Perhaps as important – how many years are you likely to live for, to enjoy your hard-earned riches?

Firstly, how is quality of life assessed, and secondly, how many hours a year do you need to work to earn this standard of living? A third – but immeasurable – factor could be priorities in what any person regards as important to his/her quality of life; perhaps you are happy to have little disposable income left after paying essential expenses, if it means working fewer hours but spending more time with family and friends. Or perhaps you are asset rich but time poor? For example, Americans are generally regarded as ‘rich’, but only five countries’ populations work longer hours, and the USA’s standard of living is only in the middle of the table. So maybe you will live a little longer, because you haven’t needed to work too hard.

world action3

Quality of Life Index is estimated by the OECD using a formula which includes purchasing power, health care, climate and safety indexes – the higher the better – and house price to income ratio, consumer price, pollution and traffic commute time indexes, the lower the better, all given weightings according to assumed importance.

Hours worked on average per year is the other side of the coin – a person may well have a relatively high income coupled with low or moderate expenses, but how much time is left for the person to enjoy his or her relative wealth? In the longer term, years of life expectancy depend on many factors, the most influential being diet and availability of medical care, except of course the negative effects of protracted conflict in which the country may be directly involved, perhaps partly borne out by Switzerland topping the list for quality of life – it managed to remain neutral during the two World Wars.

Efficiency would appear to be the key – that is, if the number of hours worked is relatively low, but quality of life is assessed as high, then in these times of increasing ‘free trade’ around the world, the country must be efficient otherwise it could not compete very well, with obvious consequences. This hypothesis may be born out by comparing the figures for Germany and Greece – the Germans would appear to justify their reputation for efficiency, and the Greeks for inefficiency, given that the latter spend 50% more time in working hours but manage to produce a score for quality of life 20% lower than the Germans. Only Mexico and South Korea of OECD countries work longer hours.

Quality Of Life

In the top 10 countries for quality of life, Denmark, The Netherlands and Norway also score well, and further down the table, French workers spend less than 1500 hours at work, so are apparently an example of being satisfied with a slightly lower standard of living. Switzerland would also appear to maintain a reasonable balance between work and play. Japanese live the longest, by some margin even over the Swiss, but are in the bottom half of the table in quality of life and hours worked – their diet is recognised as very healthy, however.

Following is a list of the top 25 countries, for which data is available through the OECD; the first column is a score which identifies the relative quality of life; the second column is the average number of hours worked per year by the population; thirdly, life expectancy should reflect the other two, and although the spread of years is relatively narrow, with just a couple of exceptions, Denmark and Germany surprise a little by their ranking – maybe a little too much beer and a few too many dumplings!? However, the bottom three in each criteria, Belgium, South Korea and Croatia respectively, are all in the bottom six in all criteria.

# Country Score

Average Hours

worked per year

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Years of

Life Expectancy

1 Switzerland 208.4                 1576                  82.5
2 Denmark 206.49                 1438                  79.25
3 New Zealand 201.06                 1752                  81.05
4 Germany 199.7                 1363                  80.57
5 Australia 198.79                 1663                  82.15
6 Austria 192.4                 1629                  81.39
7 Netherlands 192.4                 1421                  81.23
8 Norway 188.9                 1408                  81.7
9 Spain 186.41                 1699                  81.98
10 Sweden 185.81                 1607                  81.98
11 Finland 184.01                 1643                  80.77
12 USA 183.96                 1788                  79.68
13 Portugal 181.18                 1852                  79.16
14 UK 180.25                 1669                  80.54
15 Canada 177.23                 1708                  81.76
16 Japan 176.06                 1734                  84.74
17 Slovenia 175.93                 1550                  78.01
18 France 173.56                 1489                  81.75
19 Croatia 172.89                 1665                  80.68
20 Ireland 171.92                 1815                  80.68
21 South Korea 170.29                 2163                  80.04
22 Czech Republic 167.38                 1763                  78.48
23 Israel 166.63                 1867                  82.27
24 Greece 165.33                 2060                  80.43
25 Belgium 162.49                 1576                  80.88
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Economy

The Dangers of Travel!

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Travellers beware! If you have plans to travel to South or Central America, the United States or South Africa, be warned – as many tourism experts say: ‘Do not travel alone!’. In these areas and countries are found the 50 most dangerous cities in the world, in terms of crime in general and homicides in particular. True, some of these cities would not be at the top of most peoples’ lists as places to visit, but you may well have to transit them, and that in itself could be dangerous, as car-jackings and kidnappings are as common as outright homicides in many places, and far more lucrative!

Mexico travel advisory

Annual statistics correlating information from around the world are produced by CCSP-JP, a Mexican NGO, and the Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think-tank on security and violence. NOT included are war zones, or cities for which there is little or unsubstantiated data. Only cities which have a minimum of 250,000 people are listed, and both organisations admit the difficulty of comparing statistics between countries, and even between cities in the same country, because of differences in reporting and retention of records, usually as a result of limited resources available. This means that cities with good record-keeping may be unfairly ranked. The rankings are based on numbers of homicides per 100,000.

Travel Alert5

However, on one statistic there is no disagreement, and that is that the Venezuelan capital of Caracas is top of the list of most dangerous cities. The country as of mid-2016 is suffering through a period of inflation that is touching 200%, with the drop in the oil selling price having a very significant effect on national income – the situation is clearly ripe for an increase in crime. Homicides are at 120 per 100,000 in Caracas, with attendant muggings, theft, drug gangs and street crime very common.

Countries in Latin and Central America dominate world crime statistics, conspicuous in that the areas are notionally ‘at peace’, although there are some encouraging signs. The notorious Colombian city of Medellin is no longer on the list, when just five years ago the homicide rate was over 70. The rate in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula – top of the list for several recent years – has halved, although still over 100. Mexican cities on the list have fallen from 12 to five, also in five years.

Regretfully there are significant downsides too – only eight cities in the ‘top 50’ list are outside Latin and Central America, four in South Africa and four in the USA. El Salvador has taken over from neighbour Honduras as the country claiming the highest murder rate, and its capital San Salvador with a population of 1.8 million has experienced a doubling of the homicide rate to 1900 in just one year. The number of Brazilian cities on the list has risen from 14 to 21 in five years – not a comforting thought for travellers as well as the sporting fraternity visiting for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Travel Alert2

Somewhat surprisingly considering the unrest and terrorist activity elsewhere on the continent, South African cities figure prominently on the list, with Johannesburg and Cape Town leading the way. The USA’s position is perhaps less of a surprise, considering the prevalence of fire arms frequently reported, along with incidents of mass murder. Baltimore, St Louis, Detroit and New Orleans have all risen on the list from the previous year, with homicides on the rise countrywide.

There is some general good news – regardless of what is frequently highlighted in the media concerning instances of violence around the world, the assessment by both organisations is that it is in fact declining, albeit slowly. Many deaths are currently the result of ‘civil’ conflicts and acts of terrorism, otherwise the world in general has never seen a more peaceful overall environment. Except for in Latin America, violence has declined everywhere in the world in the last five years, and even from the last year.

Rank City Murder Rate (per 100,000)
1 Caracas, Venezuela 119.87
2 San Pedro Sula, Honduras 111.03
3 San Salvador, El Salvador 108.54
4 Acapulco, Mexico 104.73
5 Maturin, Venezuela 86.45
6 Distrito Central, Honduras 73.51
7 Valencia, Venezuela 72.31
8 Palmira, Colombia 70.88
9 Cape Town, South Africa 65.53
10 Cali, Colombia 64.27
11 Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela 62.33
12 Fortaleza, Brazil 60.77
13 Natal, Brazil 60.66
14 Salvador, Brazil 60.63
15 St. Louis, U.S.A. 59.23
16 Joao Pessoa, Brazil 58.4
17 Culiacan, Mexico 56.09
18 Maceio, Brazil 55.63
19 Baltimore, U.S.A. 54.98
20 Barquisimeto, Venezuela 54.96
21 Sao Luis, Brazil 53.05
22 Cuiaba, Brazil 48.52
23 Manaus, Brazil 47.87
24 Cumana, Venezuela 47.77
25 Guatemala, Guatemala 47.17
26 Belem, Brazil 45.83
27 Feira de Santana, Brazil 45.5
28 Detroit, U.S.A. 43.89
29 Goiania, Brazil 43.38
30 Teresina, Brazil 42.64
31 Vitoria, Brazil 41.99
32 New Orleans, U.S.A. 41.44
33 Kingston, Jamaica 41.14
34 Gran Barcelona, Venezuela 40.08
35 Tijuana, Mexico 39.09
36 Vitória da Conquista, Brazil 38.46
37 Recife, Brazil 38.12
38 Aracaju, Brazil 37.7
39 Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil 36.16
40 Campina Grande, Brazil 36.04
41 Durban, South Africa 35.93
42 Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa 35.85
43 Porto Alegre, Brazil 34.73
44 Curitiba, Brazil 34.71
45 Pereira, Colombia 32.58
46 Victoria, Mexico 30.5
47 Johannesburg, South Africa 30.31
48 Macapa, Brazil 30.25
49 Maracaibo, Venezuela 28.85
50 Obregon, Mexico 28.29
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Economy

Air Pollution – Almost No-one Is Safe!

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Air pollution is a frequently discussed topic worldwide – of course there are many elements which contribute to pollution overall, such as contaminated water, but unsurprisingly air pollution has the most serious impact on health standards of a large percentage of the world’s population, as it can be seen, tasted, as well as felt detrimentally in breathing. Reduced life expectancy – as low as 40 years in some countries – testifies to the seriousness of the situation blamed on air pollution. Watching or listening to news bulletins these days gives the impression that China – in particular Beijing and Shanghai – has the most serious air pollution problem, perhaps understandable given the large population, increasing urbanisation, accelerating industrialisation in recent years, and significant continuing reliance on fossil fuels. However, statistics are only as good as availability of data allows, so there are several regions and cities suspected as having far more serious problems in terms of air quality levels – reliable data is virtually non-existent for the African continent, with only 16 cities supplying reliable information.

The worst areas for air pollution are actually the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East, but there is no place for complacency around the world in general. The World Health Organisation(WHO) database now covers 3000 cities in 103 countries – of cities with over 100,000 people in low- and middle-income countries, WHO air quality guidelines are NOT met in 98% of them; even in higher income countries, the figure is 56%. Overall, this means that from available data, over 80% of people worldwide live in urban areas, and have air quality readings exceeding WHO limits.

Air Pollution4

Although deaths are not recorded as being (directly) from air pollution, authorities around the world now accept that the declining quality of urban air in particular increases the risk of death from acute respiratory diseases, lung cancer, heart disease and stroke for the people who live in these areas, with a consequent and potentially unsustainable increase in the costs of health care. WHO estimates are that seven million deaths per year occur prematurely due to air pollution, three million because of the quality of outdoor air. What authorities do about it is another problem!

The Indian sub-continent has a problem similar to that of China, but Iran and other countries of the area are beset by the problem of sand- and dust-storms, which are very difficult to alleviate of course. Such an influence can vary significantly, but then burning the amount of coal for heating varies too, according to season, and the depressing fact is that more fossil fuel will be used in the worst effected areas as they transit through a period of major industrialisation before developing re-usable energy sources, similar to the process already passed by most first-world, developed areas.

Air Pollution Hits Parts Of China

Air quality is measured by the concentration of particulate matter – PM2.5 meaning particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres; a concentration of over 10 is considered by the WHO to pose a risk.

Zabol in Iran has recorded the most consistently dirty air, at a PM2.5 measure of 217 largely from dust storms. Following are the Indian cities of Delhi, Gwalior and Allahabad, then Riyadh and Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia. Many more cities in these two areas are at the top of the list, however, limited data from Lagos in Nigeria suggests that this city is in just as much discomfort from air pollution as those previously listed. Similarly, Ulan Bator in Mongolia is located in a natural bowl which retains polluted air above the city, including from burning fossil fuel.

Steel Manufacturing In China

Notable problem cities outside the areas defined above, which also includes southern Turkey, are identified in the following table for air pollution, although by no means as serious as those; secondly, all cities for overall pollution. The third table is of selected major cities, and the fourth the assessed cleanest urban areas in the world.

Air Pollution

City PM 2.5 level
Mauritius 66
Urumqi, China 61
Nanjing, China 52
Johannesburg, South Africa 51
Kathmandu, Nepal 50
Accra, Ghana 49
Baguio, Philippines 49
Temuco, Chile 48
Nis, Serbia 45
Fresno, USA 45

Other Major Cities

City PM 2.5 level
Hanoi 39
Lima 38
Rio de Janeiro 36
Venice 30
Bangkok 20
Frankfurt 19
Singapore 17
Paris 17
London 16
New York 14

General Pollution

Rank City Contaminant
1 Linfen, China Coal
2 Tianying, China Lead, heavy metals
3 Sukinda, India Hexavelent (steel)
4 Vapi, India Chemicals, metals
5 La Oroya, Peru Lead, copper, zinc, sulphur
6 Dzerzhinsk, Russia Chemicals
7 Norilsk, Russia Sulphur dioxide
8 Chernobyl, Ukraine Radiation
9 Sumgayit, Azerbaijan Chemicals, heavy metals, oil
10 Kabwe, Zambia Cadmium, lead

Cleanest Cities

Rank City Contaminant
1 Calgary, Canada excellent public transport; efficient garbage processing system
2 Honolulu, USA light manufacturing; efficient public transport system
3 Helsinki, Finland cheap, efficient public transport, wide streets= little congestion
4 Ottawa, Canada efficient public transport, public city-cleaning projects
5 Minneapolis, USA light rail, extensive bike lane system
6 Oslo, Norway pro-active greening of the city, bus fuel from human wast
7 Stockholm, Sweden significant percentage of ‘clean’ vehicles, only light and service industries
8 Zurich, Switzerland mass transit options: buses, boats, light rail/street-cars
9 Katsuyama, Japan tourist centre promoting cleanliness as a priority
10 Bern, Switzerland cleanliness promoted to attract returning tourists
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