Living Standards - measuring misery

As Fifth Line Economists get their heads round indicators of standard of living, here is an alternative way of measuring the standard of living. By look at "happiness". There are further posts on this topic. Just type "happiness" into the search bar.

Ignatian Economics - putting a smile on everyone's face.

From the Economist:

Misery returns: "

Misery is back in fashion, but is it any use?

THE "misery index" is a crude economic measure that adds together a country’s unemployment and inflation rate. In the last couple of years, when deflation was perceived by many to be a greater threat than inflation, the index was of little value. But in 2011, with almost every big economy facing high unemployment or inflation, the measurement again has some significance. But what is the relationship between economic misery and economists’ measures of overall happiness? In OECD countries, people living with high economic misery are generally less happy (measured using survey questions asking people to rate life satisfaction). For example, Switzerland is one of the happiest countries, with an average unemployment rate of 3.5%. But there are exceptions: Scandinavians are happier than their values suggest they should be, and eastern Europeans are less so.

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