The United States may be one of the richest nations on the planet, but we aren?t the happiest. Neither are Britain, Japan, Germany or many other wealthy countries, according to a new “World Happiness Report” commissioned by the United Nations. The United States ranks 11th in the report. Not surprisingly, the world?s poorest countries are far less happy than their well-to-do counterparts.
(Gregg Mitman is interim director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison.)