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I have decided to post this as a separate post, not to distract from Jonathan’s post today, but to further explore the concept of what makes not an individual, but a country happy. If a country is happier as a whole it seems intuitive that the individuals in said country would be happier as well.
I have received some of my highest negative net rating in the past for posting these facts on Humble Dollar but since I am a glutton for punishment will post these facts again:
Every year World Population Review ranks the happiest countries. All five of the nordic countries of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Demark, and Iceland are ranked in the top 7. In the past four years none has ranked lower than 8th.
https://data.worldhappiness.report/table
Finland has ranked as number one for the past eight years, while the US was ranked 24th this year, and no higher than 15th over these four years.
Why is this? Is it because they live on some tropical island where it’s sunny year round? Er, obviously not!
Is this because their personal income tax is so low? No, as of 2023 (the most recent data available) three of the top five highest taxed countries are Nordic, and Finland, the happiest county is the highest at 57.3%. They also have a 24% sales tax, and a 20% corporate tax rate. The US has the 45th highest personal income tax rate.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/highest-taxed-countries
Are the Nordic countries the “richest”? No, Finland, the “poorest”of the Nordic countries in 2025 is ranked 21 richest. Finland’s per capita income is only 61% of the US which is ranked 7th.
https://www.voronoiapp.com/economy/Ranked-GDP-Per-Capita-by-Country-in-2025-5370
Why is Finland so happy? In 2024 US News and World Report listed 5 possible reasons in this article from 2024:
I am not proposing we copy Finland, but perhaps it’s time we as a country should have a serious conversation as to how we can make changes to improve our happiness. It seems that recent changes in our society has us headed in the opposite direction from what has been proven to make a population happy.
I hate to point out the obvious re US happiness. If happiness is rooted in financial security and, beyond finances, people worry most about their health and that of family, then the US healthcare structure really provides a whiplash to happiness.
No-one of ordinary means is more than a few steps away from a healthcare induced bankruptcy – largely it just takes an insurer refusing cover or to be outside cover.
So people worry about their health then worry whether they will ever have the financial resources to be secure on health and long-term care. I’ve seen people that were exhausted by work (and absent healthcare cover with adequate resources) having to hang on until they qualified for Medicare.
bbbobbins,
This is just one example I was trying to make on my post, that I think was missed.
I was hoping that readers would read between the lines and come up with the bottom line of the post. The bottom line is that while current legislation is looking to cut taxes the most for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, they are also cutting what appears to make the Scandinavian countries happiest which is less concern paying for healthcare, education, retirement; and the social safety net. Meanwhile there is no urgency in congress to solve the Social Security conundrum which is set to decrease incomes of retirees leading to further unhappiness.
These problems can be solved it just takes courage and commitment from congress. It has nothing to do with culture or the diversity of Americans. All people around the world want to feel they can retire with enough income to be comfortable, and to feel like if they get sick, will be able to obtain quality healthcare without sacrificing a modicum of their lifestyle.
Congress is only part of the problem. Congress doesn’t act because it doesn’t want the wrath of voters who rather believe the fantasy of things like Congress stole the SS funds, rather than accept that the program needs more funding to be sustained.
The funding levels should be adjusted as necessary every year based on the annual report by the trustees of the need. No Congressional action should be required other than a mandate to maintain long term solvency.
Most Americans have no clue how it works.
I once read a post on a site that read:
“SS would be fine if the government had contributed its share as promised.”
Now the issue is who pays for the fix, just today’s workers or also current retirees who have benefited from the years of inaction when they should have paid more?
I say both and one way to do that is to trim future COLAs for a period of time for higher income retirees.
Raising the taxable wage base helps, but we must maintain the concept that all income that is taxed earns some benefit. For example, current bend points in the formula for the benefit are
90% of the first $1,226 of AIME. (Averaged indexed monthly earnings)
32% of the AIME between $1,226 and $7,391.
15% of the AIME above $7,391.
For those who pay taxes above the standard level use 10% or 8% and there is still extra income for the trust but the basic concept is retained. In other words the more your earn the less generous the SS on the theory higher income should have more of their own retirement burden.
While I agree with your analysis I do believe that what I and RDQ posted originally remains a reasonable take on things. It’s too easy to deflect onto politicians and congress.
If the people really wanted change as a priority they would vote for it – but it would cost and from many angles that would be perceived and certainly spun by interested parties as un-American or that other dirty word, Socialism. The US has socialism. SS is relatively generous; military, police, fire services are well funded. Just no-one would ever acknowledge it.
Our system is deeply flawed and inadequate in many ways, but what you state is, well, overstated. The number of bankruptcies because of health care is rare. Medical bills are often listed on a bankruptcy as debt among other debts and it is then not uncommon to attribute the bankruptcy to health care bills which is not accurate.
The lack of insurance or no planning if you have a high deductible plan can be a burden, but with insurance there would not be many bankruptcies.
The reality is that high health care spending is concentrated among relatively few people. In any given year a family will be unlikely to even meet their deductible.
For example. The top 1% of the population accounts for roughly 21-27% of total healthcare expenditures.
The top 5% of the population accounts for nearly half (around 48-51%) of all healthcare spending.
Conversely, the bottom 50% of the population accounts for a very small share, typically only about 3% of total healthcare expenditures. From the Kaiser Family Foundation research.
Insurers refusing to cover something is way overstated and besides nearly 70% of working people are covered by a self-insured plan where the insurance company processing claims does not have a financial stake in those claims. Most of the other Americans are in one or more government run programs.
Again, our health care payment system stinks and needs reform for sure.
Unless you are going round to personally prove this out to everyone that they have no reason to fear healthcare or care costs this analysis doesn’t really impact on people’s happiness.
Perception being the important thing.
You are right about that.
Looking at Europe and the countries mentioned, here are a few measurements about “happiness”.
Can money buy happiness? Let’s compare income and purchasing power (PPS) in Europe.
Iceland is #2 with 116,411 Euro income and 73,988 purchasing power.
Norway is #5 with 92,580 Euro income and 79,979 purchasing power.
Denmark is #8 with 91,712 Euro income and 63,283 purchasing power.
Finland is #11 with 76,150 Euro income and 61,224 purchasing power.
Sweden is #12 with 75,076 Euro income and 65,425 purchasing power.
Theoretically 1 PPS buys the same goods and services everywhere.
Using PPS Switzerland has the highest income at 178,553 Euros but is the most costly in Europe with a PPS of 100,777. (Who says bankers can’t have fun?). Turkey is the least costly of 31 nations in the survey. The PPS for the EU as a whole is 62,169 and Euro Income is 63,523.
What about taxes? Here are the highest personal tax rates. Is this important?
Denmark 55.9%
Finland 55%
Norway 47.4%
Iceland 31.35%
Sweden 20%
U.S. 37%
Per the WHO, here is the suicide rate per 100,000 as of 2021:
Finland 14.6
Switzerland 14
Sweden 13.8
Norway 13.2
Iceland 11.9
Denmark 10.5
U.S. 15.6.
Other measurements might include drug dependency, number of iPhones per 100k population, etc. But this list could be endless and certain comparisons of statistics might use suspect data.
Keep in mind personal taxes are only part of the story. The VATs, payroll taxes and various extra fees add to the picture.
Why on earth measure using iPhones? The US is significantly skewed in its need to worship at the altar of a particularly consumer brand.
They are all uni-ethnic nation-states. All are historically Protestant. Ours is a multi-ethnic, multi-national, multi-racial country. Whether anyone likes it or not there is friction that comes with our unique experiment.
And because of our differences we will never be as happy. This feels like a weird argument to make. I just don’t think their happiness has primarily to do with being a mono-culture. China is ranked 68th on the list, for example, despite being a very homogenous society.
Liam, China isn’t as homogenous as most Westerners think. Even the 91% Han majority is divided by spoken language, not just Mandarin and Cantonese but regional dialects that are often not mutually understood.
It’s certainly as or more homogenous than any of the top listed countries of the report. I’m just pointing out a flaw in the theory that homogeneity promoted happiness. I would think that income and social welfare and political structure are all way more important. And ongoing religious conflicts, those are a big deal too.
The Chinese live under a soul-crushing communist dictatorship.
Yes, and I would suggest that political structure is more important to a countrywide sense of happiness than the demographic or cultural makeup of a nation.
Diversity does tend to lower social cohesion, trust etc.
There’s a lot of potential variables here so I wouldn’t draw big conclusions. But there is that preliminary data that suggests a mono-culture has a happiness advantage.
(It’s also logical, more diversity tends to mean more people with conflicting ideas, perhaps over time that cauldron drives innovation and advantage, but in the moment, day to day, I could see how it lowers other experiences)
There’s an old joke about American politics. We have a 2-party system, a party with no ideas and a party with bad ideas, except no one can agree which is which.
I find it challenging to know what to do with the results from qualitative studies such as the ones David cited above and the General Social Survey Jonathon referenced in his post.
First of all who is responding to these surveys? I can’t remember the last time I (or someone I know) was involved in a survey, can you? Is there a demographic skew based on those available and willing to respond to a survey? For those who do respond to surveys, I suspect they are biased by the peer group the respondents identify with. This is similar to the “Are you rich?” Or “ Are you middle-class?” surveys. IMO, the answer is “It depends on who I am comparing myself to”. Are you the average of your 5 closest acquaintances? Or do you aspire to be the lottery winner next door? Are enough people surveyed to overcome the biases & represent us as a nation? Probably so, but it lingers as a curiosity in my mind.
Quantitatively speaking, (I’m making a jump here to use suicide rates as a measurement for unhappiness and I don’t mean to marginalize those suffering from mental illness or suicidal experiences in doing so) Nordic countries were near the top of the list of countries in suicide rates through 2019 then their governments dedicated resources to national mental health improvement. Did they improve mental health by addressing real
problems? Did they affect change by adjusting the attitude of their citizens? Did they change the adopted identity of peer groups? i.e. I’m a sad person to I’m a happy person?
Then there’s the question…”Should we be happy?” I think we all want to be happy, but is it best to achieve it? Does happiness lead to complacency? Does a bit of unhappiness lead to innovation and improvement in the pursuit?
I think on an individual level unhappiness is not good, potentially even deadly, but on a national level it contributes an overall strive for constant improvement.
I apologize for the rambling stream of consciousness!
What’s the phrase, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” Nobody said anything in ye old constitution about actually finding it, as far as I know.
Is it reasonable to compare the U.S. (population 340 million “known”)? Net migration rate 3/1000 (known). There are 50 counties in the US with a population greater than 1 million. In the US the total net spending on social programs as a percent GDP= 30%.
Perhaps we should be looking for the “happiest” counties in the US when making comparisons.
Norway (population 5.4 million). Net migration 3.9/1000. “Norway’s modern manufacturing and welfare system rely on a financial reserve produced by exploitation of natural resources, particularly North Sea oil. “ Total net spending on social programs as a percent GDP= 22%.
Finland (population 5.6 million). Net migration 8.6/1000. “Finland has a highly efficient and strong social security system.” Total net spending on social programs as a percent GDP= 25.3%.
Sweden (population 10.5 million). Net migration rate 3.6/1000. “The vast majority of Swedish enterprises are privately owned and market-oriented. There is also a strong welfare state, with public-sector spending accounting up to three-fifths of GDP. In 2014, the percent of national wealth owned by the government was 24%.” “ The Swedish economy has extensive and universal social benefits funded by high taxes, close to 50% of GDP. … 18.4% are at risk of the poverty line or social exclusion.” Total net spending on social programs as a percent GDP= 24.5%.
Denmark (population 5.9 million). Net migration rate 2.7/1000. 86% of the population is of Danish descent. Total net spending on social programs as a percent GDP= 25.4%.
I think such a survey, comparing US counties, might be interesting.
It’s also a long tradition in America for us to have very divided ideas.
Given all that they have going for them, I am amazed that the Finish are not happier. After all, there less than 6M Finns. 95% speak the same language. They have a common culture and lengthy history. They are a Christian country with only two main divisions. Because of their social safety net and common views they should be extremely happy!!!
Okay, I am not knocking the Finns. But I am suspicious of these kinds of surveys. Given our own diversity of population I cannot believe that enough Americans statistically, accurately chosen were participants. Maybe I am just mad at the messenger, but I do know that while we have problems in this country, I don’t see any lines of people trying to leave. In fact, the opposite is true.
I agree with the posts about the rugged individual and up by your bootstraps archetypes. I would add the Protestant work ethic. I was stunned to discover that my US colleagues never took close to all their vacation time. It sometimes feels that having a concern for society as a whole is un-American.
Something else I noticed when I first moved here fifty years ago that I’ve been thinking about lately: it seemed that “compromise” was a dirty word. Everything was black or white and heaven forbid we look for some grey.
I always liked the ancient Greek penchant for philosophy, art, and music myself. The standards of the protestant work ethic would have been anathema to these ancients. Accounting, craft work, farming—that was all the work of servants. Nowadays these great thinkers would be considered freeloaders and burdens to an economic society. Good thing it’s just an ideology, not a law of nature.
Well Dave, you’ll get no down arrow or argument from me. I’m in agreement with the US News article you provided. Still, it’s hard to discuss this without injecting politics.
Having said that, it’s not impossible to be happy here in the US. While I hate that some people have become polarized, Chris and I have a great life.
The US has thought of itself as a group of independent people, pioneering mentality, self-supporting. Even today you will see goals to “empower” individuals to relieve them of government as much as possible.
Plus many Americans (and growing) apparently don’t like taxes and don’t see their necessity or value, except maybe if others pay them.
The Nordic countries see it differently and are willing to pay high taxes to be relieved of much of the financial stress that plagues Americans from health care to education and retirement.
I can’t see how a country of 340 million people each thinking and deluding themselves they can go it alone will ever be happy.
To be honest I think the US is temperamentally, nevermind politically unsuited to being a happier society like the Nordics.
Too much value put on personal independence, pioneer spirit, capitalist dreams etc. Obviously there are winners but also a huge underclass and a vast middle who never really get to get off the treadmill until retirement.
I recommend the recent Simon Reeve documentary series (probably soon on BBC America) featuring things like the Finnish forest school and nuclear bunkers, Russian expansionist threat in Svallbaard etc. Don’t forget Finland is happy despite or maybe because it has had an existential threat on its border since 1917.
https://www.wanderlustmagazine.com/inspiration/interview-simon-reeve-scandinavia/
By the way. I didn’t see your post before i wrote mine. 😁
You see we’re not SO different….;)