The “Happy Planet Index” Ranks Venezuela, Albania, and Cuba Far Higher than the United States

Daniel J. Mitchell

Rankings can be very useful tools, assuming the methodology is reasonable and the authors use robust data. I’ve cited many of them.

For a big-picture look at economic policy, the Economic Freedom of the World is the best ranking, though the Index of Economic Freedom is also quite good, and the Global Competitiveness Report also is useful.
On tax policy, the Financial Secrecy Index measures how well a nation treats foreign investors, while the Tax Oppression Index measures how well a nation treats its own people.
There are also more specialized rankings, such as the one measuring per-capita government debt, the Moocher Index of state-by-state government dependency, and my ranking of which President has been the biggest spender.

Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell is a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy at the Cato Institute.

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24 Comments So Far

Emmet Wrote: Nov 27, 2012 10:31 AM

Why not ... they're ... unhinged, y'know ...

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ttaylor841 Wrote: Nov 27, 2012 1:00 AM

Odd as it sounds, these places are getting nicer on one front...
With the mass exodus of American & British expat entrepreneurs heading abroad (& taking their businesses with them) over the past 5 or so years, (certain areas of) many of these places have seemingly changed overnight! (I'm serious)! lol
Check out some of the expat sites like the online 'Escape From America Magazine', 'Expat Daily News' or 'Escape Artist' online - you'll be shocked.
While I won't say this study is anything other than laughable, I'm just making the point that a lot of these places are changing face (at least in the westernized areas where all the expats congregate).... And there truly are some 'tropical paradise' setups for chump change by our standards. ;-)

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Words Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 10:59 PM

The "planet" would probably be a lot happier without any people on it!

That being said, and not taking suicide numbers into consideration, I'm happy here in the USA! There are kind, happy people here, despite all that is happening. There are still a lot of good people. I'm thankful for that.

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thill Wrote: Nov 27, 2012 9:49 PM

The u.n is working on depopulation hang around awhile and you'll see just look at agenda 21 they want to start with the elderly and then the handicapped.it's no joke you can find it on tube and on the u.n website.

.

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FairnessMan Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 9:27 PM

Hell, I live in this new nightmare called America. I thank the mental disorder called liberalism for my happiness here at 1 on a scale from 1 to infinity.

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rwright Wrote: Nov 29, 2012 6:40 PM

Your nightmare probably includes a flat screen TV with cable, a computer with internet, a roof over your head,at least three meals each day and a warm bed each night. How could anything be more nightmarish?

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Steve153 Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 8:09 PM

The real Happy Planet rankings from worst to first:
Uranus - for obvious reasons
Venus - the brightest planet, and we all know that ignorance is bliss
Mars - boring dusty red landscape, and a bad rep as god of war
Jupiter - the biggest planet, no planet can mess with Jupiter
Earth - almost as pretty as Saturn
Saturn - the prettiest planet
Mercury - convenient access to abundant solar energy
Neptune - blissfully not very bright

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Buck O Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 4:34 PM

Whatever...

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FletchforFreedom Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 12:36 PM

News Flash: It's time to give congratulations. The New Economics Foundation, publishers of the "Happy Planet" rankings, has just ranked at the top of the Economic Imbeciles Indiex (EII - pronounced "eeeeyyiiiii" as if you've just stepped in something unpleasant). This comes as a great surpeise as the Economic (sic) Policy Institute (EPI) has topped the list for well over a decade. The center for Economic Policy Research came in third and the CBPP and PPI placed highly as they do every year. As the listing is reserved only for organizations ostensibly involved in economics, Marxist groups were excluded for having nothing to do with economics and for following a theory debunked while Marx was alive.

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Moonbat Exterminator Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 11:49 AM

That ranking could be easily confused with one of the most socialistic/communistic countries.

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restoreliberty Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 11:08 AM

And people still think it is coincidence or simply bad management on Obama's part to kill our energy sector.......geeze wake up folks. We're going to be far happier living lives of misery and destitution and you folks just can't seem to understand that freezing in winter and roasting alive in summer is going to make you so much happier.

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Rick 2811 Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 9:41 AM

This is hilarious ! What's difficult to comprehend is not seeing, at least so far but things may change because of these findings, boats and avalanches of people flocking to Cuba and elsewhere. I suppose most like being miserable. On the other hand, if you don't know about something and not aware of it, you most likely don't miss it. I hear the Afghanistan desert is environmentally sound and very clean. I'm wondering just how many of the "Happy Plant Nuts" live close to there ? Where do they live? Are they even living ?

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Rick 2811 Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 9:29 AM

This is hilarious. But what's difficult to comprehend is why aren't we seeing boat-loads of "happy campers" sailing to Cuba? Well, on the other hand, maybe the word isn't out yet. Question: the people who run this "Happy Planet"...where do you suppose they live ? Afghanistan has very clear deserts if you go out far enough.

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Ken283 Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 8:50 AM

No wonder we're so unhappy as a country. If other countries had the same bunch of idiots running THEIR countries, they'd be unhappy, too!!

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Guywithaheart Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 7:43 AM

the west is too materialistic. I bet people in Costa Rica are happier than in the US.

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Chris from Kalifornia Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 8:31 AM

I don't know about Costa Rica. Never been there, never to my knowledge met anyone from there. But there is a good reason for the old saying that Ignorance is bliss. We have way to many blissful people around this country. They keep electing people who are dishonorable. Republicans are just as bad as the democrats. Libertarians to go to far the other way. We need to get back to following the constitution as written and intended.

http://www.constitutionparty.com/

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Chamuk78 Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 7:26 AM

This NGO must be another George Soros front.

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johnm h Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 6:59 AM

The countries that consume wealth are the countries that produce wealth. In the case of the US, thanks to liberal policies that purposely produce dependency, run the largest deficits on the planet , punish savings and investment we consume more than we produce, so maybe this index tells us something about liberalism.

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mjohansen Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 12:55 AM

Yeah, I saw this ranking on a news site a few weeks ago with a headline about how the U.S. ranked surprisingly low. I found the nations that ranked highly pretty odd, so I looked it up. The index does NOT factor in wealth, but it DOES factor in "carbon footprint". As producing wealth generally involves using energy, and using energy involves at least some pollution, this index therefore penalizes a country for being rich. It also doesn't factor in things like freedom or culture. It does factor in life expectancy.

So a country run by a dictatorship where only the dictator and his cronies have any wealth and comfort, and the rest of the people live in primitive squalor, will rate very high as long as they don't kill the people too young.

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Magna Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 7:17 AM

Yes the ones they will exploit as virtual slaves -toiling for a meager living in all ways -we are headed in that direction -like an elevator dropping at a rapid rate -we are at floor 7 and headed downwards to who knows where ? Poverty stricken -fourth world status as he wishes to leave most of us -he will not care as he will have his along with the other cohorts of his -the Millionaires and Billionaires he warned US about like some bad Evil Bogyman -when all he did was Bamboozle the people to achieve his goals and obtain his desired goal -Anti -Colonialism was his ultimate goal and some personal wealth also for himself as he needs to live well for the rest of his years !

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Chris from Kalifornia Wrote: Nov 26, 2012 8:28 AM

Obama's problems may only start after his allotted time here is up. I suspect he will get a VERY warm reception in the afterlife.

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The “Happy Planet Index” Ranks Venezuela, Albania, and Cuba Far Higher than the United States

Daniel J. Mitchell

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