Australia tops prosperity index

All these international rankings are highly arbitrary. I am sure there is a Greenie one somewhere that says Zimbabwe is the greatest. Greenies hate people and Mugabe is starving hundreds of thousands of Africans to death so what more could you ask? But by normal standards it is certainly true that Australia is the "lucky country", as Donald Horne put it in his miserable, carping book. Donald despised Australia and Australians (which brought him great rewards, of course) so meant to say that Australia's good life was just luck rather than the product of good sense and the hard work of the pioneers. But Australians generally embraced the term as describing reality, without the negative implications Donald intended. Poor old Donald: Fancy having coined a phrase that passed into the language, only to have it interpreted in exactly the opposite way to what was intended! No wonder he died a bitter old Leftist

AUSTRALIA has topped the rankings in a prosperity index of more than 100 countries, with its quality of life and economic strength pushing it into number one spot. The Legatum Institute's Prosperity Index of 104 nations measures the material health of a country, including wealth, quality of life and life satisfaction. Australia has topped the 2008 index, ahead of Austria and Finland in that order.


The Dubai-based investment group said Australia bettered other countries because of its strong economic performance, governance and high quality of life. "(Australia) has reinvented itself as a wealthy, service-oriented economy with good scores on liveability indicators, including health, charitable giving and effective governance," Legatum said. "Strong norms or civic participation, robust health, and plenty of leisure time contribute to the high liveability ranking." While Asian powerhouses Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong scored well economically, their livability dragged down their performance.

Vice president of the institute, Dr William Inboden, said Australia had the fundamentals right. "True prosperity consists of more than money - it also includes happiness, health and liberty," he said. "The Prosperity Index shows that in addition to economic success, a society's prosperity is based on strong families and communities, political and religious liberty, education and opportunity, and a healthy environment.

"The Australian Government earns high scores on corruption control and overall effectiveness, supporting the country's quality of life in many areas. "Strong civic participation by Australian citizens furthermore contributes to the high levels of life satisfaction."

Bottom of the list was Yemen, with Zambia and Zimbabwe not faring much better. The financial crisis-racked United States was rated equal fourth, alongside Germany and Singapore.

Source

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

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