Money can't buy happiness
Smaller countries are topping rankings of global health
There's more to life than money, and economists know it. As new assessments of global living standards proliferate, attempting to gauge how healthy, happy and successful humans are depending on where they live, a pattern is slowly emerging. Though slight variations in data can throw up different winners, smaller countries are increasingly dominating the top of the lists while big countries with booming economies fall behind. A new analysis, the Global Wellness Index published by investment firm LetterOne, ranks Canada as the best country out of the 151 countries evaluated. The US trails far behind, coming in at 37. In a tighter ranking of G20 nations combined with the 20 most populous countries on the planet, SA comes in dead last, below Ukraine, Egypt and Iraq. Based on a basket of metrics ranging from government health-care spending to rates of depression, alcohol use, smoking, happiness and exercise, the new index is the latest attempt by economists to evaluate the world beyond e...
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