Progress in the news - October 2011

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Revision as of 14:59, 31 October 2011

Recent progress in the News

• The challenge of inequity (India Today 30.10.2011)

It's a theme that was first explored in a 2008 TV show and has now been turned into a book.

• Europe risks economic well-being (Korea Times 30.10.2011)

While the first phase of the global economic and financial crisis was triggered by securitization troubles in the United States financial system, the present phase has Europe as its epicenter and has to do with the impact of bad government bonds on the banking system.

• Giving is key to Africa's wellbeing (Mail and Guardian 29.10.2011)

In an elite part of an African city lived a very rich man who never attended the funerals and burials of neighbours, relatives and colleagues.

• Is Wealth in the U.K. Not as Satisfying as Elsewhere? (Haute Living 28.10.2011)

A recent study by Lloyds TSB International Wealth suggests that only 10 percent of “high-earners” in the country believe they are better off in the U.K. than they would be in other “developed neighboring” countries.

• Well-being Debate Reveals… Even Wealthy People are Not Happy (Jags 28.10.2011)

Happiness relating to quality of life and financial well-being to be higher for those living abroad

• Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies (TED talks 29.10.2011)

We feel instinctively that societies with huge income gaps are somehow going wrong. Richard Wilkinson charts the hard data on economic inequality, and shows what gets worse when rich and poor are too far apart: real effects on health, lifespan, even such basic values as trust.

• National Well-being debate reveals… Even wealthy people are not happy (PRWeb 28.10.2011)

The quality of life in the UK is not as high as it is in other developed countries, a survey by Lloyds TSB International has found.

• New Social Justice Index places U.S. near the bottom (Huffington Post 27.10.2011)

When it comes to social justice -- defined here as the ability each individual has to participate in the market society, regardless of their social status -- the United States ranks near the bottom of 31 developed countries, the Thursday report from Bertelsmann Foundation found.

• It's hard to measure happiness (The Canberra Times 24.10.2011)

Wellbeing is important but complicated and it doesn't always translate well into policymaking, Charles Kenny writes.

• Are Canadians fulfilled? (The Star 22.10.2011)

How many times a day do we ask, or answer, a simple question: “How are you doing?”

• From a green dream to reality (The Times of Malta 22.10.2011)

The draft National Environment Policy presents us with an overwhelming scenario for Malta in 2020.

• Bhutan and the pursuit of happiness (The Star 22.10.2011)

Bhutan, sandwiched between India and China, is proof that happiness does not necessarily come with high income.

• Look beyond GDP measure of growth, urges MP (Channel News 21.10.2011)

MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Penny Low, has called on the government to aim beyond the GDP measure of growth and look at a more holistic national measurement system.

• Index provides a wider measure of progress (The Star 21.10.2011)

Not everything can be measured in dollars and cents.

• A State of Happiness Is a Worthy Goal, But It Shouldn’t Be the Government’s (Jakarta Post 21.10.2011)

If you want to understand how far the craze for measuring happiness has spread, look no further than that venerable US institution, the Girl Scouts.

• Should we learn to be happy with the crumbs that fall to us? (The Independent 21.10.2011)

Something is very wrong when those who ought to disagree, actually agree so profoundly.

• Happiness index can be a supplement to GDP (StraitsTimes 21.10.2011)

The Singapore Kindness Movement's Graciousness Index parallels Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index in some ways

• A new way to measure our happiness (The Gazette 21.09.2011)

Are we as a country happy? Fulfilled? Conscious of the well-being of our environment, our fellow citizens, ourselves?

• Index finds inequalities in Canadians' quality of life. (CTV News 20.10.2011)

A new index of well-being says a generation of solid economic growth has meant little in the everyday lives of most Canadians.

• New wellbeing index looks beyond economic growth (The Hook 20.10.2011)

A new measure of quality of life in Canada shows that the strong economic growth of the national economy over the last two decades has not been matched by improvements in actual wellbeing.

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• Gallup: Fewer Americans Have Access to Basic Necessities (Time Moneyland 18.10.2011)

According to new polls by Gallup, fewer people in the U.S. say they have access to fundamental needs like healthcare, food and shelter. And the kicker? People in China are struggling less than Americans to put food on the table.

• Emulate Bhutan's way to Gross National Happiness (Malaysia Star 17.10.2011)

And the reason is that it is the only country in the world that is more concerned about Gross National Happiness than with Gross Domestic Product

• OECD launches new report on measuring well-being (CPI Financial 16.10.2011)

The report assesses 11 specific aspects of life – ranging from income, jobs and housing to health, education and the environment – as part of the OECD’s ongoing effort to devise new measures for assessing well-being that go beyond Gross Domestic Product.

• Why Greeks should be unhappy about the government’s ‘happiness’ agenda (The Independent 16.10.2011)

For the last two years, Greece has been experiencing a massive financial and social crisis.

• UAE makes success in achieving MDG: DED (Khaleej Times 16.10.2011)

The United Arab Emirates made a success in achieving the Millennium Development Goals at the national level.

• Deconstructing happiness (Kuensel 15.10.2011)

2010 GNH Survey Findings of the 2010 GNH survey will be published next month, according to the Centre for Bhutan Studies

• Guangzhou debuts its happiness meter‎ (China Daily 15.10.2011)

Guangdong province has released on Oct 11 what it calls its happiness index system

• Inequality and happiness: I dream of GINI (The Economist 12.10.2011)

The relationship between wealth, happiness and inequality.

• OECD 'How's Life?' Report Measures Well-Being Across The World (The Huffington Post 12.10.2011)

What makes people happy? That's the question the Organisation for Economic Cooperation And Development tries to answer in its latest report, "How's Life?"

• Britons among happiest people, says satisfaction study (Guardian 12.10.2011)

OECD finds average Briton rates how satisfied they are at 7 out of 10, compared to 7.8 for top-ranked Danes

• Getting the measure of a better capitalism (New Statesman 11.10.2011)

Growth and relative poverty are no longer enough to tell us whether our economy is on the right track

• There’s Growing Imbalance in African Governance (This Day Live 11.10.2011)

President of Botswana from 1980 to 1998, Sir Ketumile Masire is actively involved in conflict resolution and prevention, promotion of good governance and representative democracy, as well as capacity building for young African leaders. He is on the board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. In this interview with THISDAY, he speaks on the 2011 African Governance Index.

• British quality of life 'the worst in Europe'? (The Telegraph 11.10.2011)

A new poll puts Britain at the bottom of the league in terms of quality of life compared to its European neighbours.

• Government to spend more to enhance Singaporeans' quality of life (Straits Times 11.10.2011)

The Government will loosen its purse strings as it moves to spend more on enhancing the quality of life for all Singaporeans.

• Tanzania: Fast drop in child mortality! (Gapminder News 11.10.2011)

UN just published estimates for child mortality in all countries in 2010!

• Nigeria won't progress while corruption is 'just the way it is' (The Guardian 10.10.2011)

After 51 years of independence, Nigerians must look inwards to confront corruption perpetuated by a culture of acceptance

• A green push for measuring the economy (Almasry Alyoum 10.10.2011)

Measuring the gross domestic product (GDP) of a nation continues to be the main indicator of its economic strength. But environmentalists are quick to point out that such a measurement does not provide a full picture, since it does not account for the environmental damages or losses resulting from the production of goods and services.

• The pursuit of happiness (New Zealand Herald 09.10.2011)

It's all about balance, the experts say. Too much money, too much achievement, too much hedonistic pleasure, too many possessions can all make us unhappy

• Redefining the Meaning of No. 1 (New York Times 08.10.2011)

Isn’t the important question not how we remain No. 1 but rather, what we want to be best at — and even, whether we want to lead at all?

• Quality of Life Overview: Armed with unbiased data, let community conversation begin (Gazette 07.10.2011)

Chronic homelessness, childhood poverty, a doctor shortage, a lack of public health spending, lagging services for the disabled, a high suicide rate and deteriorating roads and bridges are key factors hurting the quality of life in El Paso and Teller counties, according to a new survey

• Life is better - just don't mention the workload (The Sydney Morning Herald 07.10.2011)

The ABS admits there's much about the standard of living it can't yet measure. It would like to be able to report on social cohesion, democracy and governance and the quality of land, oceans and rivers, but it hasn't yet found an encompassing measure for each. It lists them as important in Measures of Australia's Social Progress 2011 and says it is still looking for a way to way to turn each into a number.

• Agenda for Nigeria’s economic transformation (Business Day 06.10.2011)

The time of lamentation is over it is time for transformation says the President in his inaugural speech. Does that mean that time of self infringe happiness is over?

• GDP doesn't measure "well-being": Joseph Stiglitz (UN Radio 06.10.2011)

For over half a century, people around the world have been told that life improves as the gross domestic product or GDP of the country they are living in increases. But according to Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, GDP fails to reflect a nation’s overall well-being. These days he’s emphasizing the need for more inclusive growth.

• Happiness above all else (The Daily Times 05.10.2011)

Gross National Happiness would suggest we invest in primary and secondary education, child and maternal health, pollution control, community participation, entrepreneurship opportunities and sustainable development

• ‘Barometer’ of well-being for Headwaters region (Orangeville 03.10.2011)

How do you go about improving the well-being of the local community?

• Wealthy Indonesians start sharing the wealth (The Korea Herald 03.10.2011)

A youth spends his time in the middle of the road in Jakarta. Yani Rodyat, vice-chairman of Medco Energi is trying to spread education to Jakarta’s street children by paying the school fees for hundreds of underprivileged children.

• Worldwide, residents stay where the good jobs are (Gallup 03.10.2011)

Gallup's worldwide research documents a clear relationship between "good jobs" and community attachment. In countries where more people in the workforce are employed full time for employers, residents are more likely to be satisfied with the communities they live in, more likely to recommend them to others, and considerably less likely to say they will probably leave them in the next year.

• Chasing the dragon (The Economist 03.10.2011)

How the Asian superpowers compare on various measures of development

• Six Timely Points on Measuring National Well-Being (Wall St Journal 02.10.2011)

Time budget diary studies provide a wealth of information about how working and home lives of men and women have changed across Europe and North America in the last 30 years.

• Uzbekistan - Core Objective: Boosting People’s wellbeing (ISRIA 02.10.2011)

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov traveled to Namangan and Andijan regions on September 30 – October 1 to review the course of socio-economic reforms and the creative beautification works in progress in these parts of the country.

• More than half a million kids live in jobless families (News.Com 02.10.2011)

Australia may boast one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world yet thousands of children are living in jobless families.

• Zimbabwe: What Does Women's Empowerment Mean to You? (All Africa 02.10.2011)

It is a well-established fact that there exist inequalities between men and women due to a long history of male dominance, advanced by cultural, religious, economic and political institutions among many societies.

• Democracy or prosperity: which comes first in Africa's bid for prosperity? (GhanaWeb 02.10.2011)

As Africa’s democracy gradually evolves, the arguments are whether Africa should concentrate on creating prosperity first and then grow its democracy later or build up its democracy first and then use it to develop its prosperity.

• Amr Moussa: The president should make the people happy (Ahram 02.10.2011)

Presidential hopeful Amr Moussa says his job description, if elected, will be the pursuit of happiness for all Egyptians

• The Economics of Happiness - a new film (Forbes 02.10.2011)

The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, an unholy alliance of governments and big business continues to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people all over the world are resisting those policies ... they’re starting to forge a very different future.

• Happiness goes global (Toronto Star, The star.com 01.10.2011)

Happiness is grabbing an enormous amount of attention in terms of global public policy. A resolution passed at the UN General Assembly in July stated that “the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal” embodying the globally agreed targets in the Millennium Development Goals

• The economics of happiness - an analysis (Eurasia Review 01.10.2011)

Ireland’s recent Quarterly National Household Survey may be evidence that happiness and economic hardship are not always mutually exclusive.

Archive

For blog posts on progress prior to 2011, see:

• The Community Portal Archive