Progress in the news - January 2011

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Revision as of 16:17, 15 April 2011

Progress in the News

• Vietnam moves up 16 places in quality of life rankings (VOVNews 27.01.2011)

Vietnam has moved up from 77th in 2009 to 61st in 2010 in the quality of life rankings conducted by the London-based Legatum Research Institute.

• President Obama vows to measure success by jobs, quality of life in State of the Union Address (Mlive 26.01.2011)

“We measure progress by the success of our people, by the jobs they can find and the quality of life those jobs offer,” the president said Tuesday night.

• Perth behind regional WA for financial well-being (International Business Times 26.01.2011)

Households in regional Western Australia are streaking ahead of Perth residents when it comes to financial well-being, according new data released today.

• One in five UK office workers unhappy with job (HR Magazine 26.01.2011)

Over 20% of UK office workers are unhappy with their job and over a quarter wouldn't recommend their employer, new research has suggested.

• Green Growth, South Korea's National Policy, Gaining Global Attention (Reuters 26.01.2011)

A new economic paradigm is arising out of the ashes of the global financial crises. Could it take hold?

• Happiness - There's something about Northwest communities (25.01.2011)

Open space and education are values that attract people here, and they seem to be factors in our sense of well-being.

• Taking stock- Alternative indicators of national well-being (IDRC Communications 25.01.2011)

Once, GDP was the established benchmark of a country’s progress. Now, new and sophisticated indexes offer a more rounded picture of the condition of society — and IDRC is helping develop them.

• How healthy are the Filipinos? (The Philippine Star 25.01.2011)

When people resolve to work harder, live better, and spend more time on things that truly matter, health and well-being tend to become even more important concerns.

• Belarus Ranks 141th in World Ranking of Life Quality (The Telegraf 24.01.2011)

Belarus ranks the 141th place among 192 countries in the international ranking of quality of life. The experts compiled this rating, assessing the cost of living in the country, the development of culture and education, health care quality, the economy, the environment, the possibility of civil rights' realization, security of life and so on.

• Quality of life: A closer look (Jacksonville 23.01.2011)

A community that assesses its strengths and weaknesses is more likely to make progress than one that doesn't.

• The happiness index (The Star 22.01.2011)

A new metric of human well-being should capture areas such as job security, health and education

• President firmly believes in nation’s growth (VOV News 21.01.2011)

Vietnam, equipped with achievements attained in the renewal process during the past 25 years, will surely surmount all challenges that may arise to make bigger accomplishments on the path to becoming a modern industrialised country by 2020 as planned.

• Happiness Initiative begins with on-line survey from Sustainable Seattle (The Examiner 20.01.2011)

The Happiness Initiative was just launched by Sustainable Seattle with an on-line happiness survey designed to provide participants with an evaluation of their personal well-being. The upbeat survey covers nine domains of happiness that were identified by international researchers.

• Gross Domestic Happiness: What Is the Relationship between Money and Well-being? (Knowledge@Wharton 19.01.2011)

Most of us have seen the bumper sticker: "Anyone who says money can't buy happiness just doesn't know where to shop." It's an amusing sentiment, but it provokes an important question: What exactly is the relationship between money and happiness?

• Population 7 Billion (National Geographic January Special)

There will soon be seven billion people on the planet. By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion. Can the planet take the strain?

• Germany mulls 'happiness index' (The Swedish Wire 17.01.2011)

German politicians Monday began investigating ways to gauge the country's quality of life and prosperity as a way to complement the gross domestic product (GDP) indicator in Europe's top economy.

• Jews, religious or not, top US 'well-being' index (The Jerusalem Post 17.01.2011)

Atheists, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims fall behind Jews; Gallup analysis claims "strong positive relationship between religiosity and well-being."

• My Money (Mmegi 17.01.2011)

The role of financial well-being on overall wellness

• Quality of Life index (YouThink World Bank 14.01.2011)

Any guesses? You may answer right away or you may be wiser and ask: “Best quality of life depending on what…?!” After all, ranking 192 countries (almost every country in the world) based on their quality of life is not a straightforward task!

• Youth should be a part of development politics: APJ Abdul Kalam (Daily News and Analysis 14.01.2011)
  

• Quality of Life Crimes Statistics Flat for 2010 (Mountain Review 14.01.2011)

MVPD releases crimes figures and while felonies decreased misdemeanors presented a mix bag for the year.

• Americans' Overall Wellbeing Improves in 2010 (GallUp 13.01.2011)

Wellbeing gains more apparent in the first half of 2010 than in the second half

• ">'Stepping off the GDP escalator' path to sustainable economies (The Environmental Research Web 13.01.2011)

Every day there seem to be new doom and gloom stories about the economy. We hear that unemployment is up, house prices are going down and inflation keeps rising. Meanwhile experts speculate on when and how the UK and other countries will escape the recession, and talk about ways of making the economy grow. But is this the only way?

• Rapid urbanisation compromising quality of life (The Express Tribune 12.01.2011)

Pakistan is facing great challenges in meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDG) because of changing demographic patterns and their impact on the environment, said Nancy D Lewis of East-West Centre.

• Four Ways to Measure Your Standard of Living (Matador Life 11.01.2011)

“Standard of living” should not equate to “amount of spending”.
When I sat down to write an article on the countries with the highest standard of living, I thought it would be easy. But, how do you define “standard of living”?

• Report: Economy Affecting Local Quality Of Life (10 News San Diego 11.01.2011)

A collaborative report by 10News and research group the Equinox Center shows how the tough economy is affecting the quality of life in San Diego County.

• Public’s sense of well-being at all-time high, says report (The Jerusalem Post 11.01.2011)

Taub Center index reflects signs of economic recovery; haredim have higher- than-average score, despite poverty

• Want to really transform Singapore? Measure happiness (Today Singapore 11.01.2011)

The 14.7 per cent rise in Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 is good news for companies and economic recovery. What the average person on the street may wonder, though, is whether that jump made a real difference in their life.

• Happiness is having a job, and the salary doesn't matter(The Telegraph 11.01.2011)

Having a job is more important to people than how much they are paid, according to the first official inquiry into what makes Britons happy.

• How will Britain measure happiness and well-being? (CTV News 11.01.2011)

More than 2,000 people have told Britain's Office for National Statistics what they want to see in the government's new happiness index. What matters most, the agency said today, is job security, health and family relationships.

• Should GDP measure happiness? (The Telegraph 10.01.2011)

Some world governments are considering a more holistic reflection of a country's well-being beyond GDP. But it may be a challenge to define what happiness and success is for a whole population.

• Nations Seek Success Beyond GDP (Wall Street Journal 10.01.2011)

Money isn't everything. But in measuring the success of nations, it isn't easy to find a substitute

• International Living’s 2011 Quality of Life Index reveals best climate in the world – Malta and (wait for it) Zimbabwe (The Malta Daily 10.01.2011)

Maybe it’s too early for 1 April, but Malta has just tied with Zimbabwe for first place with the best climate on earth in this year’s Quality of Life Index, published last week in International Living magazine.

• GDP a flawed index for general well-being (The Shanghai Daily 07.01.2011)

In a time of tight budgets and financial crisis, politicians nowadays look to economic growth as the center piece of their domestic policy programs.

• The Toil Index (The New York Times 07.01.2011)

If earning $75,000 a year is the key to happiness — unless, of course, you earn less than the median income in your profession — here’s another measure of well-being: whether you can afford to live in a good school district.

• Happiness is the new economy index (Joongang Daily 06.01.2011)

Since happiness is what people want the most, the primacy accorded to economic growth would appear to be a mistake.

• Wellbeing on the Home Front (Gallup Management Journal 05.01.2011)

A global study finds that the people you share a household with have a profound impact on your wellbeing in five key dimensions

• Nation's quality of life rises (Vietnam News 05.01.2011)

The quality of living for Vietnamese was not high, but it was gradually increasing, said Do Ngoc Tan, head of the Department of Population and Family Planning.

• What Makes S.Koreans Unhappy (The Chosun 04.01.2011)

South Korea has reached a per-capita GDP of US$20,000, while its economy is the world's 13th largest, but South Koreans are far from happy. According to a Gallup poll, the number of South Koreans who are happy about their lives decreased 10 percent between 1992 and 2010 when the country's per-capita GDP grew threefold.

• Les Misérables: new survey reveals that French are saddest people on the planet(The Times 04.01.2011)

If the coming year looks utterly grim you are probably French, or at least from Europe. If the prospects of 2011 fill you with hope you may be from Nigeria, Vietnam or even Afghanistan.

• Ireland among OECD's worst for social justice (The Irish Times 04.01.2011)

Ireland has one of the worst levels of social justice of all OECD member states, ranking 27th out of 31 countries in a new German study.

• Quality of Life Index 2011 ranks Tunisia 69th internationally and first in Arab world (African Manager 04.01.2011)

Established at the beginning of each year by Irish magazine International Living, the Quality of Life Index 2011 ranked Tunisia 69th with a score of 60 points, the same as that obtained by 7 other countries including Morocco, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

• Will 'gross well-being product' resonate soon? (The Korean Times 03.01.2011)

It is hard to believe that there is a government that discourages its citizens from going to college, but Korea is such a country. A year ago, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said Korea needs fewer universities for the sake of its economy. His faith remains firm in the New Year.

• Baby boomers must do their bit for Britain's economy (The Guardian 03.01.2011)

Property owners and savers are behaving in a way that undermines the UK's recovery.

• U.S. Claims Top Spot in IL’s Quality of Life Index 2011 (International Living 03.01.2011)

International Living has just published its annual Quality of Life Index for 2011. The Index ranks most countries in the world (192) in nine different categories to come up with overall ratings for their comparative qualities of life.

• Personal well-being overshadows income inequality (The Washington Examiner 01.01.2011)

Consider one conundrum in American politics. Income inequality has been increasing, according to standard statistics. Yet most Americans do not seem very perturbed by it.

• Youths need to be mobilised thru' scouting for wellbeing of nation (The Financial Express 01.01.2011)

Finance Minister AMA Muhith Friday said the forces of youth and juveniles will have to be mobilised through scouting for the wellbeing of the society and the nation, reports UNB.

• Is happiness all in your head? (Vancouver Sun 01.01.2011)

We can blame the Babylonians for the notion of New Year's resolutions. About 2,500 years ago, they resolved at the start of the new year, which fell sometime in March or April on their lunar calendar, to return all borrowed farm equipment.

• Worldview: Areas to watch for progress (or a lack of) (The Philadelphia Inquirer 01.01.2011)

References

Archive

For progress in the news prior to 2011 see:

• The Community Portal Archive
  

See also