Count 'em
This week's Economist has an good article on the Fraser institute's "Economic Freedom of the World" This year's top 10 countries terms of economic freedom:
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
-New Zealand
-Switzerland
-United Kingdom
-United States
7. Australia
--Canada
9. Ireland
--Luxembourg
See how this compares to last year's Economic Freedom Rankings: Hong Kong retains the highest economic freedom rating last year followed by Singapore, but the United States has dropped (from .1 by rating)
The objects of my brain crush at CommonKnowledge have a few good facts to add.
Another Worthwhile Read...
...Is Will Wilkinson's post discussing the economic value of sex. His questions for egalitarians stem from a WebMD article based on a paper which "essentially puts an estimated dollar amount on the happiness level resulting from sex and its trappings.
Last week, there was an article in the NYTimes discussing the same paper (It's from July 11, 2004 so it's archive and costs $2.95 to view- but the important quotes are here)
It's estimated that increasing the frequency of sexual intercourse from once a month to at least once a week provided as much happiness as putting $50,000 in the bank.
A lasting marriage, by comparison, offers about $100,000 worth of happiness a year - that is, on average, a single person would need to receive $100,000 annually to be as happy as a married person with the same education, job status and other characteristics. Divorce, on the other hand, imposes an emotional toll of about $66,000 a year, though there may be a short-term economic gain from the immediate relief provided by leaving your spouse.
The money (sorry) quote from the article: "This was surprising to us as economists, because, by and large, we think money can buy anything."
I have a general interest in the field of 'happiness economics' and have read the paper, by David Blachflower and Andrew Oswald "Money, Sex, and Happiness: An Empirical Study."
Blachflower and Oswald define 'happiness' as "the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his or her life as favorable" and use data from the GSS question
Taken all together, how would you say things are these days -- would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?
I have to say, I think it's sad- though not necessarily surprising- that less than a third of respondents considered themselves "very happy"
Also of interest to me was the conclusion that "Sex appears to have disproportionately strong effects on the happiness of highly educated people."
So, maybe Will's comments section is just sensitive...
This week's Economist has an good article on the Fraser institute's "Economic Freedom of the World" This year's top 10 countries terms of economic freedom:
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
-New Zealand
-Switzerland
-United Kingdom
-United States
7. Australia
--Canada
9. Ireland
--Luxembourg
See how this compares to last year's Economic Freedom Rankings: Hong Kong retains the highest economic freedom rating last year followed by Singapore, but the United States has dropped (from .1 by rating)
The objects of my brain crush at CommonKnowledge have a few good facts to add.
Another Worthwhile Read...
...Is Will Wilkinson's post discussing the economic value of sex. His questions for egalitarians stem from a WebMD article based on a paper which "essentially puts an estimated dollar amount on the happiness level resulting from sex and its trappings.
Last week, there was an article in the NYTimes discussing the same paper (It's from July 11, 2004 so it's archive and costs $2.95 to view- but the important quotes are here)
It's estimated that increasing the frequency of sexual intercourse from once a month to at least once a week provided as much happiness as putting $50,000 in the bank.
A lasting marriage, by comparison, offers about $100,000 worth of happiness a year - that is, on average, a single person would need to receive $100,000 annually to be as happy as a married person with the same education, job status and other characteristics. Divorce, on the other hand, imposes an emotional toll of about $66,000 a year, though there may be a short-term economic gain from the immediate relief provided by leaving your spouse.
The money (sorry) quote from the article: "This was surprising to us as economists, because, by and large, we think money can buy anything."
I have a general interest in the field of 'happiness economics' and have read the paper, by David Blachflower and Andrew Oswald "Money, Sex, and Happiness: An Empirical Study."
Blachflower and Oswald define 'happiness' as "the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his or her life as favorable" and use data from the GSS question
Taken all together, how would you say things are these days -- would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?
I have to say, I think it's sad- though not necessarily surprising- that less than a third of respondents considered themselves "very happy"
Also of interest to me was the conclusion that "Sex appears to have disproportionately strong effects on the happiness of highly educated people."
So, maybe Will's comments section is just sensitive...
4 Comments:
US remain in third place and it is tied with New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. However, Us has fell in his rating from 8.3 last year to 8.2 this year.
Nicolas
Sorry for the confusion, I think the change will clarify the ranking as everyone won't open the 2003 link. Thanks for the watchful eye.
My comment section IS NOT SENSITIVE! We get PLENTY of sex, and we're JUST FINE, thank you. Just fine. Just. Fine. Ergh.
Breathe. It was meant to refer to the highly educated point, not a comment on lack of sex.
Post a Comment
<< Home