http://www.economist.com/news/21566430-where-be-born-2013-lottery-life?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/the_lottery_of_life
QuoteWarren Buffett, probably the world's most successful investor, has said that anything good that happened to him could be traced back to the fact that he was born in the right country, the United States, at the right time (1930). A quarter of a century ago, when The World in 1988 light-heartedly ranked 50 countries according to where would be the best place to be born in 1988, America indeed came top. But which country will be the best for a baby born in 2013?
To answer this, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, has this time turned deadly serious. It earnestly attempts to measure which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.
Its quality-of-life index links the results of subjective life-satisfaction surveys—how happy people say they are—to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries. Being rich helps more than anything else, but it is not all that counts; things like crime, trust in public institutions and the health of family life matter too. In all, the index takes 11 statistically significant indicators into account. They are a mixed bunch: some are fixed factors, such as geography; others change only very slowly over time (demography, many social and cultural characteristics); and some factors depend on policies and the state of the world economy.
A forward-looking element comes into play, too. Although many of the drivers of the quality of life are slow-changing, for this ranking some variables, such as income per head, need to be forecast. We use the EIU's economic forecasts to 2030, which is roughly when children born in 2013 will reach adulthood.
Despite the global economic crisis, times have in certain respects never been so good. Output growth rates have been declining across the world, but income levels are at or near historic highs. Life expectancy continues to increase steadily and political freedoms have spread across the globe, most recently in north Africa and the Middle East. In other ways, however, the crisis has left a deep imprint—in the euro zone, but also elsewhere—particularly on unemployment and personal security. In doing so, it has eroded both family and community life.
What does all this, and likely developments in the years to come, mean for where a baby might be luckiest to be born in 2013? After crunching its numbers, the EIU has Switzerland comfortably in the top spot, with Australia second.
Small economies dominate the top ten. Half of these are European, but only one, the Netherlands, is from the euro zone. The Nordic countries shine, whereas the crisis-ridden south of Europe (Greece, Portugal and Spain) lags behind despite the advantage of a favourable climate. The largest European economies (Germany, France and Britain) do not do particularly well.
America, where babies will inherit the large debts of the boomer generation, languishes back in 16th place. Despite their economic dynamism, none of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) scores impressively. Among the 80 countries covered, Nigeria comes last: it is the worst place for a baby to enter the world in 2013.
Boring is best
Quibblers will, of course, find more holes in all this than there are in a chunk of Swiss cheese. America was helped to the top spot back in 1988 by the inclusion in the ranking of a "philistine factor" (for cultural poverty) and a "yawn index" (the degree to which a country might, despite all its virtues, be irredeemably boring). Switzerland scored terribly on both counts. In the film "The Third Man", Orson Welles's character, the rogue Harry Lime, famously says that Italy for 30 years had war, terror and murder under the Borgias but in that time produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance; Switzerland had 500 years of peace and democracy—and produced the cuckoo clock.
However, there is surely a lot to be said for boring stability in today's (and no doubt tomorrow's) uncertain times. A description of the methodology is available here: food for debate all the way from Lucerne to Lagos.
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I like how in the 1988 survey only three countries, all western, get bonuses for scenic attractions; apparently there isn't much to be seen in Asia,Africa or South America. :hmm:
Who is Switzerland's Warren Buffer or other 'lucky-person-to-be-born-there'
Considering the list is about people born next year it may take some time to tell.
Quote from: Phillip V on December 26, 2012, 07:51:00 PM
Who is Switzerland's Warren Buffer or other 'lucky-person-to-be-born-there'
Hamilcar?
A dictatorship (Singapore) is number 6? Whoever prepared this list must be an idiot.
Also, I love how Israel is more safe, stable and boring than France or Britain. :lol:
Quote from: Ideologue on December 27, 2012, 01:13:59 AM
Quote from: Phillip V on December 26, 2012, 07:51:00 PM
Who is Switzerland's Warren Buffer or other 'lucky-person-to-be-born-there'
Hamilcar?
Wasn't he more German than Swiss and just pretended to be pure Swiss? :swiss:
Quote from: Martinus on December 27, 2012, 02:10:10 AM
A dictatorship (Singapore) is number 6? Whoever prepared this list must be an idiot.
Also, I love how Israel is more safe, stable and boring than France or Britain. :lol:
Having lived in Singapore I must say that it is a very good place to live, despite the police state and limited political freedom.
Quote from: Zanza on December 27, 2012, 03:33:12 AM
Quote from: Martinus on December 27, 2012, 02:10:10 AM
A dictatorship (Singapore) is number 6? Whoever prepared this list must be an idiot.
Also, I love how Israel is more safe, stable and boring than France or Britain. :lol:
Having lived in Singapore I must say that it is a very good place to live, despite the police state and limited political freedom.
And it being illegal to be gay, among other things. So no thank you.
But I guess being German, you would find the Third Reich a very good place to live, on the same basis, what with the trains running on time and every German family having access to slave labour.
Not to mention, being a foreigner living in some place, with a full ability to go home at any time, is a bit different that being born there, presumably as a local.
Your comparison of Singapore and the Third Reich just shows that you are clueless.
As usual.
Quote from: Zanza on December 27, 2012, 04:31:46 AM
Your comparison of Singapore and the Third Reich just shows that you are clueless.
As usual.
I'm not comparing Singapore to Third Reich. I am just showing the fallacy of your reasoning and pointing out its cultural roots.
Quote from: Martinus on December 27, 2012, 04:43:47 AM
Quote from: Zanza on December 27, 2012, 04:31:46 AM
Your comparison of Singapore and the Third Reich just shows that you are clueless.
As usual.
I'm not comparing Singapore to Third Reich. I am just showing the fallacy of your reasoning and pointing out its cultural roots.
But you just... And he said... :blink:
Quote from: Phillip V on December 26, 2012, 07:51:00 PM
Who is Switzerland's Warren Buffer or other 'lucky-person-to-be-born-there'
Deciding to be born based on a chance to be a 1 in 300,000,000 success story is hardly sound decision making.
Quote from: Martinus on December 27, 2012, 03:54:03 AM
And it being illegal to be gay, among other things. So no thank you.
But I guess being German, you would find the Third Reich a very good place to live, on the same basis, what with the trains running on time and every German family having access to slave labour.
:yeahright: Making cracks about someone based on their nationality? That's not good form.
Quote from: DGuller on December 27, 2012, 05:19:11 AM
Quote from: Martinus on December 27, 2012, 03:54:03 AM
And it being illegal to be gay, among other things. So no thank you.
But I guess being German, you would find the Third Reich a very good place to live, on the same basis, what with the trains running on time and every German family having access to slave labour.
:yeahright: Making cracks about someone based on their nationality? That's not good form.
:lol:
Quote from: DGuller on December 27, 2012, 05:19:11 AM
:yeahright: Making cracks about someone based on their nationality? That's not good form.
Marty's compulsion to insult other people is pretty easy to ignore though.
Insult? So it is insulting now to suggest that certain cultural characteristics of Germans contributed to Hitler's success?
No. But that's not what you did.
Quote from: Zanza on December 27, 2012, 07:53:45 AM
No. But that's not what you did.
Really? You said that Singapore is a "very good" place to live despite the police state and limited political freedoms (and things like being put in jail for being gay, among other things).
If it is fine to point out that Hitler's ideology appealed to Germans more than to other nations due to their certain cultural traits, then I do not see anything outlandish in a suggestion that being a cultural German yourself, you find an illiberal police state regime to be more appealing (as you perceive certain advantages it creates to be more important and certain disadvantages it involves to be less important) than people who do not share your German cultural traits.
So I still fail to see where anything I said is insulting, unless you are operating under some bizarre state of denial (e.g. that for some reason Germans managed to completely overhaul their culture during the life span of a single generation).
Well, maybe you'll figure it out. But I doubt that.
Quote from: Zanza on December 27, 2012, 08:09:24 AM
Well, maybe you'll figure it out. But I doubt that.
I think you are unable to figure something that is pretty obvious - which I find puzzling and this could only be a result of some sort of denial/brainwashing. But I guess it's hard to live with an understanding one is a member of the culture that created the most murderous regime in human history.
No, that's pretty easy to understand and I am the last to deny that.
Try again.
I think Marty needs to get laid, badly. Or maybe he got laid, badly.
Zanza, unless you get some weird fun out of this, stop - it's not worth it. :P
Quote from: Syt on December 27, 2012, 08:20:03 AM
I think Marty needs to get laid, badly. Or maybe he got laid, badly.
That is what the pug is for.
Quote from: Martinus on December 27, 2012, 07:14:20 AM
Insult? So it is insulting now to suggest that certain cultural characteristics of Germans contributed to Hitler's success?
It was insulting because you meant it to be insulting. You meant it to be insulting because anyone who has anything positive to say about a place/person/thing/whatever that persecutes homosexuality is deserving of insult. Zanza's nationality was just a means to an end.
I think we're all overlooking the part where the Economist says being born in Mexico is better than being born in Hungary.
Quote from: Fireblade on December 27, 2012, 11:01:05 PM
I think we're all overlooking the part where the Economist says being born in Mexico is better than being born in Hungary.
Jaron vs Tamas....sounds about right.
Quote from: katmai on December 27, 2012, 11:02:49 PM
Quote from: Fireblade on December 27, 2012, 11:01:05 PM
I think we're all overlooking the part where the Economist says being born in Mexico is better than being born in Hungary.
Jaron vs Tamas....sounds about right.
Jaron and yourself are happy, fat, and successful. Tamas wakes up every day, walks by the swamp to go to the village shit pit, gets in his shitty 1980s Yugoslav car to go to work (occasionally encountering a traffic jam from a "herd of chickens" in the road,) sweeps floors and cleans toilets for 8 hours a day in an IBM call center, drives home to a delicious meal of beets cooked with chili powder, and falls asleep.
Mexico sounds like a magical place in comparison, yes.
Quote from: Fireblade on December 27, 2012, 11:01:05 PM
I think we're all overlooking the part where the Economist says being born in Mexico is better than being born in Hungary.
.............and Saudi Arabia is better than both of them :hmm:
Can't say that I'm very impressed with the list.
With Saudi-Arabia it really depends on whether you're born a boy or a girl, I guess.
I'm rather happy with when/where I've been born thankyouverymuch.
So much so you now live in an entirely different country.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 28, 2012, 03:22:23 AM
So much so you now live in an entirely different country.
I liked growing up in West Germany, surrounded by U.S. Army kids in our little town. The 80s were a good time to grow up, too. Besides, except for the presence of foreign soldiers, I don't think that being born in the FRG or in Austria in the 70s makes much of a difference for your life prospects.
The real frontier is when you leave Hesse and enter Bavaria.
Quote from: Fireblade on December 27, 2012, 11:06:26 PM
Quote from: katmai on December 27, 2012, 11:02:49 PM
Quote from: Fireblade on December 27, 2012, 11:01:05 PM
I think we're all overlooking the part where the Economist says being born in Mexico is better than being born in Hungary.
Jaron vs Tamas....sounds about right.
Jaron and yourself are happy, fat, and successful. Tamas wakes up every day, walks by the swamp to go to the village shit pit, gets in his shitty 1980s Yugoslav car to go to work (occasionally encountering a traffic jam from a "herd of chickens" in the road,) sweeps floors and cleans toilets for 8 hours a day in an IBM call center, drives home to a delicious meal of beets cooked with chili powder, and falls asleep.
Mexico sounds like a magical place in comparison, yes.
:D
Quote from: Razgovory on December 28, 2012, 03:22:23 AM
So much so you now live in an entirely different country.
They don't really think Austria is a different country. :secret:
wish I'd been born Scandinavian or Dutch. better countries all round and you get a secret language for free.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have . . . a map!
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/07/a-surprising-map-of-the-best-and-worst-countries-to-be-born-into-today/
QuoteIf you came into the world today and could pick your nationality, there are at least 15 better choices than to be born American, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The firm looked at 80 countries, scoring them across 11 variables to determine "which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead." The results, mapped out above, are both surprising and not.
The study incorporates hard data on facets such as economic opportunity, health standards and political freedoms; subjective "quality of life" surveys; and economic forecasts for 2030, when an infant born today would be entering adulthood. Even gender equality, job security (as measured by unemployment data), violent crime rates and climate are taken into account.
Here's some of what I found interesting about the data. There's surely more here — just as there are surely plenty of holes to be poked in any endeavor to understand life and opportunity in only 11 variables.
Money can't buy you happiness, though it will get you 2/3 of the way.
The correlation between wealth, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and happiness is clear, though not nearly as clear as you might expect. The report concludes from the results that "GDP per head alone explains some two thirds of the inter-country variation in life satisfaction, and the estimated relationship is linear." Only two-thirds!
If you look at the map, you'll see that the world's richest countries score highly, but not in the top category. The United States and Germany, two of the world's economic powerhouses, tied for 16th place; Japan ranks way down at 25th. Britain and France score even worse.
The Middle East offers some great lessons on money and well-being. The region scores poorly in general, with two exceptions. Democratic and developed Israel, which is about as rich per person as the European Union average, ranks 20th. But the top-ranking country in the region, at 18th, is the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. Even more telling, though, is the gulf between the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, which for all its oil money scores much lower, perhaps due in part to problems such as repressive laws or a lower human development index.
The best countries to be born in are small, peaceful, homogenous, liberal democracies.
Yes, it's yet another international ranking on individual well-being where the Nordic countries come out on top, alongside Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The top 15 also include Austria and Switzerland, which seem to meet similar criteria. The three best places to be born are, in order: Switzerland, Australia and Norway.
Here's a surprise: the top-ranked countries also include Asia's two super-rich city-states, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as Taiwan. I'll admit to being surprised by the data's suggestion that a newborn today is better off being Taiwanese than American or German, particularly because Taiwan's aging population and declining birthrate could lead the economy to decline. But Taiwan does enjoy good political freedoms and improving health and living standards.
There is some interesting variation among the top-ranked countries. New Zealand ranks seventh overall even though its GDP per capita is low compared to many worse-ranking European countries. Singapore, though ranked sixth, is not a liberal democracy by any stretch, and life satisfaction in the hyper-competitive city seems relatively low. But it sure is rich.
It's still best in the West.
In spite of Asia's miraculous growth and of Europe's economic decline, factors such as political rights and health standards keep the Western world overwhelmingly desirable. Other than a small number of exceptions, most of which are mentioned above, the top third of the rankings is dominated by Europe and other Western states.
Even Portugal and Spain, for all their very real troubles, score highly. A child born today is likely to have a better life, according to the data, in Poland or Greece — yes, Greece — than in rising economic giants such as Brazil, Turkey or China.
Poverty, violence and/or lack of freedom define the worst countries to be born into.
Countries with violence, poverty or political oppression all rank poorly, but the variance within the bottom fifth or so is fascinating. The worst three countries to be born into, in order from the bottom up, are Nigeria, Kenya and Ukraine.
Some of the bottom-ranked countries are not actually so poor, such as Russia, which has bad records on political rights and public health. Ecuador, backsliding on political rights, is the sole low-scoring country in an otherwise optimistic-looking Latin America.
Though countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam are projected to show astounding economic growth over the next generation, they are poor today. This map is a reminder that being born into a poor society, even one that offers opportunities for new wealth, can still mean life-long challenges.
Inequality plus poverty is much worse than just plain poverty.
Three telling cases here are Angola, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, all of which scored much lower than I'd have expected. Both Angola and Kazakhstan are enjoying rapid economic growth from energy and mineral exports, and Ukraine is a middle-income democracy. But all three have severe and worsening problems with economic inequality, which in turn are fueling corruption and poor governance.
You're worse off being born in any of these three countries, according to the data, than you are just about anywhere else, including Sri Lanka, a poor hotbed of ethnic violence, oppressive Vietnam, or even Syria. Pakistan places higher than Angola or Ukraine but just below Kazakhstan.
China is still not a great place to be born.
The country ranks 49th out of 80, just below Latvia and Hungary. That's an amazing finding, given that China now has the second-largest number of billionaires in the world after the United States and might some day have the most. You would think that, with so many Chinese families catapulting to higher status within a society that is itself seeing historic gains, China would be a great place to be born in 2013.
The statistics are a reminder that, for all of China's astounding gains, those gains have not benefited all Chinese equally. About half of the country is still rural and 128 million are still below the poverty line. Even in the big coastal cities, the rising cost of living, stalled political freedoms and worsening income inequality mean that the next 20 or 30 years may not be prosperous for a lot of families.
So, if you're a Westerner fretting about American decline or European collapse, then if nothing else, know that your children have still lucked into one of the best deals in history: being born in the right place at the right time.
Seriously, Ukraine is the worst place to be born? That's nonsense, being born in Ukraine gave me the chance to immigrate to US.
Quote from: DGuller on January 07, 2013, 04:00:21 PM
Seriously, Ukraine is the worst place to be born? That's nonsense, being born in Ukraine gave me the chance to immigrate to US.
The country you were born in no longer exists.
I wonder what the results would be taking it back a further 25 years to 1963.
I'd guess and handful of African countries would be higher up the list ?
Quote from: Razgovory on January 07, 2013, 04:13:01 PM
Quote from: DGuller on January 07, 2013, 04:00:21 PM
Seriously, Ukraine is the worst place to be born? That's nonsense, being born in Ukraine gave me the chance to immigrate to US.
The country you were born in no longer exists.
Sure it does. The USSR was a federation.
I wonder if the best leverage would be achieved by being born in a blue state, making your living and then moving to a red or pink one.
We slipped 4 spots :(
Still in the top 10 though :showoff:
The map is racist.
Quote from: DGuller on January 07, 2013, 04:00:21 PM
Seriously, the Ukraine is the worst place to be born?
Yes.
Canada, Sweden and Norway are only great places to be born if you assume global warming's gonna raise their temperatures by 30-40 degrees in the next decade. :thumbsdown:
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on January 24, 2013, 09:10:00 PM
Quote from: DGuller on January 07, 2013, 04:00:21 PM
Seriously, the Ukraine is the worst place to be born?
Yes.
Canada, Sweden and Norway are only great places to be born if you assume global warming's gonna raise their temperatures by 30-40 degrees in the next decade. :thumbsdown:
More evidence of the failure of your high school educational system. :(
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on January 24, 2013, 09:10:00 PM
Quote from: DGuller on January 07, 2013, 04:00:21 PM
Seriously, the Ukraine is the worst place to be born?
Yes.
I knew a Ukrainian-Canadian girl in university who got all shitty on me once when I used the definite article and called it "the Ukraine."
Maybe she should have come from a real country and not a geographic region.
Quote from: crazy canuck on January 24, 2013, 10:19:24 PM
More evidence of the failure of your high school educational system. :(
Just multiply those numbers by 5/9, sheesh.
Quote from: Ideologue on January 24, 2013, 11:04:18 PM
Maybe she should have come from a real country and not a geographic region.
:mad: Ukraine has a proud, multi-decade history.
In German, Ukraine is one of the countries that goes with the definitive article: die Ukraine (feminine). (Queue Simpsons joke: Die Ukraine, die!) There's a few countries like that in German: Die Türkei, der Kosovo, der Sudan, die USA, der Tschad, der Niger, der Kongo, der Irak, der Iran, , der Libanon, der Jemen . . . most go without it though.
Is "Die", feminine and "Der", masculine?
Yes. Although "die" also indicates plural ("die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika"). "Der" seems to be used mostly for ex-colonies, where the name first designated a region and only later an independent country.
"Die" seems to be very rare. Maybe Zanza can think of more examples of countries using that article, besides Ukraine and Turkey.
Quote from: DGuller on January 24, 2013, 11:39:11 PM
Quote from: Ideologue on January 24, 2013, 11:04:18 PM
Maybe she should have come from a real country and not a geographic region.
:mad: Ukraine has a proud, multi-decade history.
:D
Quote from: Syt on January 25, 2013, 12:18:07 AM
In German, Ukraine is one of the countries that goes with the definitive article: die Ukraine (feminine). (Queue Simpsons joke: Die Ukraine, die!) There's a few countries like that in German: Die Türkei, der Kosovo, der Sudan, die USA, der Tschad, der Niger, der Kongo, der Irak, der Iran, , der Libanon, der Jemen . . . most go without it though.
It's "the U.S." in English too. The other ones are fucking posers.
Speaking of those born in the '80s.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/24/microsofts-child-of-the-90s-advert_n_2540199.html
I admit, I miss it. :cry:
I felt nostalgic watching that. I think I did all of those things except bowl cut and wallet chain.
Quote from: Syt on January 25, 2013, 12:31:49 AM
Yes. Although "die" also indicates plural ("die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika"). "Der" seems to be used mostly for ex-colonies, where the name first designated a region and only later an independent country.
"Die" seems to be very rare. Maybe Zanza can think of more examples of countries using that article, besides Ukraine and Turkey.
Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovakia, Mongolia
Quote from: Ideologue on January 25, 2013, 01:55:18 AM
Quote from: Syt on January 25, 2013, 12:18:07 AM
In German, Ukraine is one of the countries that goes with the definitive article: die Ukraine (feminine). (Queue Simpsons joke: Die Ukraine, die!) There's a few countries like that in German: Die Türkei, der Kosovo, der Sudan, die USA, der Tschad, der Niger, der Kongo, der Irak, der Iran, , der Libanon, der Jemen . . . most go without it though.
It's "the U.S." in English too. The other ones are fucking posers.
The Netherlands, the UK, the Gambia, occasionally the Ukraine and the Congo. And the Ivory Coast, fuck Cote D'Ivoire.
Edit- forgot the Philippines.
The Gambia? :huh:
Yes?