What's Happiness Got To Do With It?

Today on Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal-

Smiley Faces by Tony & Tacky.

"Who are the world's happiest people? According to a new survey by the market research company GfK NOP, Australians and Americans top the list, followed by Egyptians and Indians. It's not clear what led some 30,000 people in 50 countries to say that they were cheerful or, alternatively, disappointed with the way their lives had turned out--Hungarians being the most dismal. A report Wednesday on Rediff.com, an Indian Web site, notes only that while between 46% and 33% of people in the five happiest countries (including Britain and Canada) say they are very happy..."

Rediff.com's Wednesday report went on to say that a separate poll has named Vancouver, Canada the world's best place to live.

All the cities that fell into the top 'liveability' bracket were in Canada, Australia and Western Europe. Melbourne, Vienna, Geneva and Perth made up the rest of the top five.

London came in a low 47th with Dublin and Los Angeles, way behind Paris which ranked 16th.


Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU report, weighs in-

"In the current global political climate, it's no surprise the most desirable destinations are those with the lower perceived threat of terrorism."