The 'Happiest' Emerging Nation
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 6, 2011 (IPS) - The reputation of Brazilians as cheerful, happy-go-lucky people is starting to be reflected in the cold reality of statistics. A study has put numbers to that state of well-being by quantifying the significant reduction in social inequality in the last few years, an area in which South America's giant has outdone other emerging nations.
The study, "Os emergentes dos Emergentes", presented by the Getulio Vargas Foundation's Centre for Social Policies with support from the Inter-American Development Bank, compares Brazil's economic and social performance with that of Russia, India, China and South Africa, the other members of the so-called BRICS group of nations.
These emerging countries are home to over half of the world's poor. But according to investment bank Goldman Sachs, by 2050 the combined size of the BRICS economies will exceed that of the Group of 7 richest countries.
Based on data from the Gallup World Poll 2009 on "the degree of life satisfaction," the coordinator of the study, Marcelo Neri, compared the "happiness index" of the BRICS countries, and found that on a scale of 0 to 10, Brazil has a rate of 8.7, South Africa and Russia 5.2, and China and India 4.5.
"We outdo the other countries on this," Neri said in an interview with IPS. "But furthermore, Brazil is the only BRICS country that improved its global happiness ranking, moving up from 22nd in 2006 to 17th in 2009."
Joking about the Brazilian tendency to declare Brazil "o mais grande do mundo" (the greatest in the world), the economist quipped that although this country forms part of BRICS, what really makes him happy is being "one of the BIG," referring to the countries that have won the greatest number of World Cup football championships Brazil (five), Italy (four) and Germany (three).
social inequality in america - News
The data reflect the growing social inequality in the United States since the 1970s after the period of stability that followed World War II. Income inequality also has increased in countries like China, India and Britain, but the trend has been more
A study has put numbers to that state of well-being by quantifying the significant reduction in social inequality in the last few years, an area in which South America's giant has outdone other emerging nations. The study, "Os emergentes dos
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RT : "America is the worst country in terms of social inequality, worse than China, worse than Brazil" - Zbigniew Brzezinski
"America is the worst country in terms of social inequality, worse than China, worse than Brazil" - Zbigniew Brzezinski
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