Catherine Conlon: A solid economic model has equity and wellbeing — not profit — at its core
Finland was named the happiest country in the world for the sixth consecutive year. Picture: John Thys/AFP via Getty Images
Covid-19, war, climate disasters, a cost-of-living crisis, lack of housing, and inadequate access to healthcare.
If there was a single word to sum up 2022, it would probably be 'permacrisis'.
Some countries suffered more than others and those with solid infrastructure, trustworthy institutions, and strong social support networks fared better.
US President Joe Biden has expressed hope for a return to powersharing at Stormont and with it, a stable government could deliver an economic windfall for Northern Ireland.
But is it time to stop and reconsider the flaws of free market fundamentalism, the reality of which, post-pandemic, particularly in the US and Britain, is becoming all too apparent?
For the sixth consecutive year, Finland was named the happiest country in the world by the UN while its Nordic cousins, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, all featured in the top 10.
Ireland came 14th. The only countries outside of Europe to make it to the top were Israel (fourth) and New Zealand (10th).
The US came 15th and Britain 19th.
While the results are based entirely on self-reported perceptions of satisfaction, contributing factors to high scores include a high GDP per capita, a strong social support system, higher life expectancy, greater freedom, absence of government and corporate corruption, and charitable giving.
"The findings are clear," the researchers conclude.
"The ethos of a country matters — are people trustworthy, generous, and mutually supportive? The institutions also matter — are people free to make important life decisions? And the material conditions of life matter – both income and health.
"The development of virtuous behaviours needs a supportive social and institutional environment if it is to result in widespread happiness.
"The ultimate goal of politics and ethics should be human well-being," said American economist and public policy analyst Professor Jeffrey Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, at the publication of the World Happiness Report.
"The happiness movement shows that wellbeing is not a ‘soft’ or ‘vague’ idea but rather focuses on areas of life of critical importance: material conditions, mental and physical wealth, personal virtues, and good citizenship.
"We need to turn this wisdom into practical results to achieve more peace, prosperity, trust, civility, and — yes — happiness in our societies."
Does this explain why Finland consistently comes out on top of the happiness scale?
Free education, generous parental leave, and a healthy work-life balance are key to life satisfaction.
Over 80% of Finnish people trust the country’s police, education, and healthcare systems, according to Agence France-Presse, published in the Economist.
"Because of progressive taxation and wealth redistribution, the lifestyles of the rich and poor are not dramatically divergent. Neither are those of men and women. Finland is widely considered to be one of the best places in the world to be a mother, and to be a working woman."
America has doubled its income per person in the last four decades, this has not translated into improved subjective well-being.
It comes in at 15th, one step below Ireland and four steps ahead of the UK. The researchers previously cited obesity, depression, and opioid addiction as some of the factors dragging down rich countries.
Pulitzer prize winner Mathew Desmond, writing in his just-published book , describes how the US annually produces $5.3trn more in goods and services than China.
The GDP is larger than the combined economies of Japan, Germany, the UK, India, France, and Italy which are the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth richest countries in the world.
Yet America has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.
There are more than 38m people living in the US who cannot afford basic necessities and more than 108m getting by on $55,000 a year or less, many stuck in the space between poverty and security.
More than a million children are homeless, living in motels, cars, shelters, and abandoned buildings.
After arriving in prison, many incarcerated Americans suddenly found their health improved because the conditions they faced as free citizens were worse.
"America’s poverty is not for lack of resources," Desmond says.
"We lack something else."
Desmond argues that poverty does not result from a lack of resources or good policy ideas.
"We already know how to eliminate it. The hard part is getting more of us to care.
"As things stand, liberals explain poverty through insurmountable structural issues, whereas conservatives highlight personal failings and poor life choices. Both analyses abdicate responsibility, and ignore the reality that the advantages of the rich only come at the expense of the poor."
Desmond asks "is it time better-paid citizens put themselves back in the narrative, recognising that the depth and expanse of poverty in any nation reflects our failure to look out for one another?"
The Finns seem to understand this and so do their Nordic neighbours.
In 2000, then tánaiste Mary Harney, in a much-cited speech to the American Bar Association, suggested that while geographically we are closer to Berlin than Boston "spiritually we are a lot closer to Boston than Berlin".
"Political and economic commentators sometimes pose a choice between what they see as the American way and the European way... I think it is fair to say that we have sailed closer to the American shore than the European one."
Two decades later, the fruits of the American way are becoming apparent.
The model of free market fundamentalism that believes in the ability of the market to resolve almost all social, economic, and political problems with low taxation and minimal state regulation is in fact at the core of widening socioeconomic determinants of health and wellbeing.
The pandemic and the planetary health crisis that is hurtling toward us have shown up the neoliberal market economy as fundamentally flawed in that it ignores the impact of economic growth on social inequalities, planetary health, and physical and mental health.
In real terms, that means housing, health, education, childcare, and a living wage are prioritised as essential to the health and wellbeing of every citizen.
Add to that a model of nature-friendly farming and a policy for a third of land to be entirely to nature — woodland, wetlands, and grasslands; there would be no better place to live.
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