Chris Snowdon is having some fun with the New Economics Foundation over its "Happy Planet Index", which purports to create some sort of a rank of countries - it is, says NEF, a "new measure of progress" and "a clear compass to help us all move in the right direction". The index is calculated from a formula that incorporates three factors:
- experienced wellbeing
- life expectancy
- ecological footprint.
Here's a flavour of Snowdon's article:
If the good people of Luxembourg (ranked 138th) have not already bought a one-way ticket to more desirable destinations such as Malawi (72nd), Haiti (78th) or Afghanistan (109th), they can console themselves that they are still one place ahead of Sierra Leone (139th), although that could all change if the Sierra Leoneans buy a wind turbine.
A couple of days back, I came across this picture, which tells a story all of its own. On one side is Haiti and on the other the Dominican Republic. I note below their respective ranking for "ecological footprint".
