HAPPINESS REPORT 1

Happiness Report

Name

Institution
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Happiness Report

Based on the report, Finland is the world's happiest country, followed by Denmark,

Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland. The Nordic nations take the top five positions

and are socially progressive, safe, and stable (Harris., 2018). The Nordic countries have minor

corruption, and politicians and police are well trusted.

From the report, it can be deduced that money cannot buy happiness since some of the

wealthiest countries, such as Japan and the USA, are ranked lower on the list. Therefore, the

existing disparity between happiness and wealth has made policymakers widen the analysis

scope and examine other indicators to evaluate the nation’s health instead of only measuring

economic success via GDP (Harris., 2018). However, wellbeing or happiness is notoriously and

subjectively hard to quantify effectively. The report is based on some international surveys

where respondents were interrogated. The report highlights some significant factors that affect

happiness; social support, corruption and generosity levels, GDP per capita, life expectancy, and

freedom of making life choices (Harris., 2018). The report indicates that even though the USA is

ranked highly in per capita income, it is ranked 18th nation below other wealthy countries. The

USA performs poorly regarding social measures where life expectancy is reducing, increased

inequality, and government confidence is falling.

Economist Jeffery Sachs highlights that the U.S happiness trend is worrying and

alarming since it is significantly below other wealthiest nations. Sachs points out the need to

tackle three interrelated diseases: substance use, depression, and obesity. The USA is among the

countries that have recorded the highest obesity rates and antidepressant use worldwide (Harris.,

2018). The plight of the USA shows a relevant example of why many economists are
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increasingly concerned with the evaluation of happiness as opposed to wealth. The report noted

that moving to some happy nation makes someone more comfortable based on the migration

impact assessed(Harris., 2018). It was deduced that a nation’s immigrants’ happiness is identical

to the broader population and people try adjusting to the happiness level of a nation they relocate

to. Therefore, it highlights that happiness is not about cultural attitudes and norms but is

significantly affected by the quality of life and surrounding that a nation offers to its

people(Harris., 2018). An individual who relocates to a happier country is more likely to be

happy than someone who migrates to a less happy nation. Therefore Finland has the happiest

immigrants and happiest people in the world.

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References

Harris.B. (2018). These are the happiest countries in the world. Retrieved from

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/03/these-are-the-happiest-countries-in-the-world/