Neviditelny Pes (Czech):
WORLD: Craving for happiness as the most authentic value
1 February 2018
Richard Layard, an elected economist and professor at the London School of Economics, emphasized in his lecture (March 3, 2003) that the people of the Western countries have been very wealthy over the last thirty years, their working hours are significantly shorter, have longer vacations, travel, live longer and healthier. But they are not happier. In the 2005 book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, the table shows the correlation between average national income and a sense of life satisfaction. Among the poor states, the lowest degree of satisfaction is shown by Ukraine, it is better for Bangladesh and even better for the former popular democracy. (Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania - listed in descending order). The Czech Republic even ranked higher than Japan, showing a higher average income for its population. Lord Layard makes it quite clear that raising money is not a guarantee of blessing, but the more we have, the happier we feel if we are poor. Now exactly twelve years ago, The Economist (11 February 2006) reported the results of evaluating the subjective feelings of well-being based on the World Values Survey. On the 0-4 scale, the best result was achieved by Switzerland (4), followed by the USA (3.5). The United Kingdom reached just under 3, Spain, Italy and Japan 2, and Poland and Turkey less than 1. The Czech Republic was not listed here. In the case of Germany, the distance between the Germans in the West and the former Dederons was established.
Related publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, Richard Layard, Penguin, 2nd edition 2011