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The Happiness Money Can't Buy
The national income per capita in Bhutan, considered one of the happiest countries in the world despite endemic poverty, has rapidly risen from just a few hundred dollars in early 2000 to US$5,000 this year. But the happiness of its people has shown an unmistakable decline over the past years.
Bhutan dropped from the eighth place in 2006 to 17th in the Happy Planet Index compiled by Britain's New Economics Foundation. Experts suggest that the rapid proliferation of televisions in the countryside has been the chief cause; people whose only concerns had been farming and Buddhism were able to see the outside world on TV, which spawned new desires for material goods and different lifestyles. Bhutan's first psychiatrist reportedly started his practice only recently.
In 1974, the American economist Richard Easterlin in a thesis stated that higher income does not necessarily lead to increased happiness, citing as an example that although Japan's per-capita income had increased sevenfold over the 20 years since 1950, the happiness of its people dropped to a level comparable to that of Bangladesh, whose national income was one of the lowest in the world. That failure to improve public welfare despite rising national income was named the "Easterlin paradox."
It is worth asking whether it still applies today. This year, Costa Rica took first place in the HPI survey; nine Central American countries, including the Dominican Republic (second), Jamaica (third), and Cuba (seventh), were included in the top 10. Vietnam, in fifth place, was the only Asian country to make it into the top 10 list. Among developed nations, the Netherlands ranked 43rd, Germany 51st, Japan 75th, and the U.S. a sorry 114th. South Korea took 68th place.
The HPI is greatly influenced by the institutions that measure it and the evaluation factors taken into account. Environmental factors have recently become an important criterion as well. Costa Rica, for example, has put great efforts into conserving its natural environment for the last 20 years, and about a quarter of the country is designated as an environmental protection zone. Although an oil reserve was discovered off its eastern shore five years ago, the Costa Rican government banned drilling, opting instead to invest in wind and hydroelectric power. South American nations such as Brazil or Cuba have also received high marks for their dedication to environmental conservation.
In truth, happiness is a relative measure. The happiness, for instance, of a boy wearing $200 sneakers has nothing to do with the quality of the sneakers, but comes from being able to show them off to his friends. But if all his friends also got themselves the same expensive sneakers, the satisfaction the boy feels from wearing them would plummet almost immediately. Ultimately, the wealthier a society becomes, the more money it will need to stay happy. Was Korea any different during the last few decades?
By Chosun Ilbo columnist Kim Hong-jin
The national income per capita in Bhutan, considered one of the happiest countries in the world despite endemic poverty, has rapidly risen from just a few hundred dollars in early 2000 to US$5,000 this year. But the happiness of its people has shown an unmistakable decline over the past years.
Bhutan dropped from the eighth place in 2006 to 17th in the Happy Planet Index compiled by Britain's New Economics Foundation. Experts suggest that the rapid proliferation of televisions in the countryside has been the chief cause; people whose only concerns had been farming and Buddhism were able to see the outside world on TV, which spawned new desires for material goods and different lifestyles. Bhutan's first psychiatrist reportedly started his practice only recently.
In 1974, the American economist Richard Easterlin in a thesis stated that higher income does not necessarily lead to increased happiness, citing as an example that although Japan's per-capita income had increased sevenfold over the 20 years since 1950, the happiness of its people dropped to a level comparable to that of Bangladesh, whose national income was one of the lowest in the world. That failure to improve public welfare despite rising national income was named the "Easterlin paradox."
It is worth asking whether it still applies today. This year, Costa Rica took first place in the HPI survey; nine Central American countries, including the Dominican Republic (second), Jamaica (third), and Cuba (seventh), were included in the top 10. Vietnam, in fifth place, was the only Asian country to make it into the top 10 list. Among developed nations, the Netherlands ranked 43rd, Germany 51st, Japan 75th, and the U.S. a sorry 114th. South Korea took 68th place.
The HPI is greatly influenced by the institutions that measure it and the evaluation factors taken into account. Environmental factors have recently become an important criterion as well. Costa Rica, for example, has put great efforts into conserving its natural environment for the last 20 years, and about a quarter of the country is designated as an environmental protection zone. Although an oil reserve was discovered off its eastern shore five years ago, the Costa Rican government banned drilling, opting instead to invest in wind and hydroelectric power. South American nations such as Brazil or Cuba have also received high marks for their dedication to environmental conservation.
In truth, happiness is a relative measure. The happiness, for instance, of a boy wearing $200 sneakers has nothing to do with the quality of the sneakers, but comes from being able to show them off to his friends. But if all his friends also got themselves the same expensive sneakers, the satisfaction the boy feels from wearing them would plummet almost immediately. Ultimately, the wealthier a society becomes, the more money it will need to stay happy. Was Korea any different during the last few decades?
By Chosun Ilbo columnist Kim Hong-jin
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