No São Paulo Consensus or Happiness for Pessimo

 Pessimo brought a measure of well-being to suggest that São Paulo would be probably be a good place to be. I suggest instead that we adopt a development-related concept, which is the World Happiness Index. As Michael Trebilcock and Mariana Mota Prado describe in their new book, Advanced Introduction to Law and Development:

"A movement to redefine development based on well-being supported the development of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index. Spearheaded by the King of Bhutan, the index includes nine domains: psychological wellbeing, health, education, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards. These domains are considered conditions of a ‘good life’ and are measured by 33 indicators. While initially supported only by a few academics and the government of Bhutan, the concept has gained international attention recently. In 2011, the United Nations approved a resolution entitled "Happiness: Towards a Holistic Approach to Development". (...) This resolution was followed by two World Happiness Reports, published in 2012 and 2013, which measure the overall happiness in different countries and rank them against each other. Alongside its recognition at the UN, in 2013 the OECD issued guidelines for an international standard for the measurement of well-being, largely subscribing to the concerns that have driven to the creation of the happiness index."

 

So, how happy was Optimo in Brazil? Not very happy. According to the 2013 report, Brazil ranks 24th. This is not the worse place to be, but it is still not at the top of the ranking as Pessimo suggested in his previous post. It is certainly a better place to be than Singapore (30th), but not better than Canada (6th). Therefore, we would not be on solid grounds to propose a São Paulo consensus on this basis. Moreover, we need to consider that Germany was two positions in the ranking below Brazil in 2013. This may have changed since the World Cup. 

If we focus the analysis in São Paulo, the city is going through one of the worse droughts in its history, which is threating water supply. While this may be a temporary problem, the UN indicated that São Paulo is the city with the highest level of mental disorders associated with urbanization among 23 cities analyzed. So, let me assure Pessimo that levels of well being are not particularly high down there. 

Considering the Index, and the fact that Optimo is now (happily!) back to higher levels of happiness Canada, I am looking forward to continuing the conversation about the Beijing Consensus.

Post scriptum: Would Portugal have been able to produce the most melancholic music in the World (fado) if they were not occupying the last position in the ranking?