The Economist just came out with their annual livability rankings of 100-odd countries based on factors such as $, health, political stability, divorce rate, climate, job security, etc.
Taiwan came in at #21.
The top countries in order were Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Luxemburg (by far the world leader in GDP per person), Sweden and Australia.
US was listed at #13 (It dropped 11 places since the last ranking and itâll drop a few more after 4 more years of Bush )
Japan and Hong Kong ranked #17 and 18. UK came in at #29.
They didnât include Iraq, but in last place were Nigeria, Tanzania, Haiti and Zimbabwe.
The problem with these surveys is that they donât give enough weight to the cost of booze. Having easy access to cheap quality drink is vital for quality of life. Sweden loses out big time when it comes to getting on the grog; it shouldnât be in the top twenty.
Are you sure about that 11 place drop? When was the last ranking done?[/quote]
Oops, sorry, upon further consideration I see that the US didnât drop 11 places.
If you click on the link youâll see they put a lot of thought into their methodology and they explain it at length. . . but too much length for me as I didnât read through all the preliminary materials. I just saw that the US is ranked #13 and under âDifference in Ranksâ the US received a â-11.â But based on your provocation, I now see that is the difference between the US score of 13 for Quality of Life and 2 for GDP per person.
Apparently the US has the second highest GDP per person (after Luxemburg) but is lower on the list for Quality of Life. Iâm not sure if itâs good to have a positive or negative Difference, but if you read through it theyâll explain.
Still, the Quality of Life rankings that I listed above are accurate. Iâm not sure, but it appears to be an annual survey.
BTW, I was wondering when you would start using a ârealâ Hobbes avatar.
I know itâs hard to come up with stats to measure something as nebulous as âquality of lifeâ, but all the same, some of their measures seem a bit weird:
For âfamily lifeâ they only consider divorce rate. Itâs a bit of a stretch to say that a culture which frowns upon divorce has much happier families than one where itâs allowed.
For âcommunity lifeâ: Dummy variable taking value 1 if country has either high rate of church attendance or trade-union membership; zero otherwise.
Climate and geography: Latitude (So Taiwan presumably scores the same as Saharan wastelands and West Indian âtropical paradisesâ)
I actually find the GDP/Person figures more interesting: Taiwan is almost exactly the same as Germany, and better than Spain, Italy or New Zealand! Wouldnât have expected that âŚ
[quote=âMother Theresaâ]
Still, the Quality of Life rankings that I listed above are accurate. Iâm not sure, but it appears to be an annual survey.
BTW, I was wondering when you would start using a ârealâ Hobbes avatar. [/quote]
Yeah, Smerf, Yellow Cartman and Casey inspired me to explore the oranger, furrier side of avatars for a while.
When I looked at the QOL table, I thought that the âdifferenceâ number indicated, with respect to each country, the difference between their GDPpc rank and their QOL rank. I tried to find the 2004 rankings on the internet but had no luck.
A QOL ranking like that is a tough project. Obviously not everyone will agree with the factors the Economist chose or the weights they gave them â but overall I donât think it looked too crazy.
One thing that did strike me was the fact that a country could increase its score by having either (a) high church attendance, or (b) high trade union membership. Without getting into a substantive debate about the merits of either these factors â Iâm curious whether anyone else found this component of the rankings to be a little surprising?
[quote=âHobbesâ][quote=âMother Theresaâ]
Still, the Quality of Life rankings that I listed above are accurate. [/quote][/quote]
What I meant is that I accurately stated the QOL rankings that the Economist came up with. Iâm not sure I agree with their rankings, especially based on the comments made by others above.
Agreed. Although some of their criteria seem a little strange to me, when I try to think of what statistics I would use instead, I start to have some appreciation for the challenges they faced in doing a table like this. On the one hand I guess you could say that maybe thatâs an argument for just not doing these kinds of rankings. On the other hand, it might just mean that rankings like this should be read for what they are: an imperfect and subjective, but hopefully interesting enough to provoke some debate and discussion and make the readers think a bit about what it is that makes a country a nice place to live. I think thatâs probably a worthy goal â and Iâm not sure that the Economist failed to achieve it, despite my objections to the numbers (or yours, or Davidâs or Almas Johnâs.)
[quote=âdavidâ]I know itâs hard to come up with stats to measure something as nebulous as âquality of lifeâ, but all the same, some of their measures seem a bit weird:
Climate and geography: Latitude (So Taiwan presumably scores the same as Saharan wastelands and West Indian âtropical paradisesâ)[/quote]
Yeah, that doesnât make much sense. Besides, whoâs to say whatâs a good climate and what isnât. Iâve had the air conditioner on at the same time that my Taiwanese roommate was sitting wrapped in a quilt, huddled up by a space heater. Personally, Iâd take my hometown (minus 40 in the winter) over Taipeiâs summer any day.
This is because they are using âpppâ (purchasing power parity) GDP. That is, they adjust the GDP to take into account how much things cost in that country. If they used the real amounts, Taiwan would be lower.
[quote=âMother Theresaâ]The Economist just came out with their annual livability rankings of 100-odd countries based on factors such as $, health, political stability, divorce rate, climate, job security, etc.
Taiwan came in at #21.
The top countries in order were Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Luxemburg (by far the world leader in GDP per person), Sweden and Australia.[/quote]
My GF (originally Taiwanese, now Luxembourgian) was very satisfied with the results of the study, reminding me on several occasions that Taiwan ranks ahead of Germany (my home country).
Anyway, yesterday a friend showed me some pictures from Okinawa⌠well, to accurately represent my personal quality of life index, youâd have to include a âproximity to beach with clean water and nice wavesâ-factor.
My GF (originally Taiwanese, now Luxembourgian) was very satisfied with the results of the study, reminding me on several occasions that Taiwan ranks ahead of Germany (my home country). [/quote]
Tell her that a PPP per capita GDP index is a very subjective thing, as definitions may vary all over the place.
What is shows is that rice and scooters are cheaper here than in Germany.
If you really want to make her day, then also remind her that Germany is more or less 2 countries seen from a standard of living point of view. You have the east and the west, and there are some differences in how much money the average Gunther has depending on which side of the old iron carpet you are on.
My GF (originally Taiwanese, now Luxembourgian) was very satisfied with the results of the study, reminding me on several occasions that Taiwan ranks ahead of Germany (my home country). [/quote]
Tell her that a PPP per capita GDP index is a very subjective thing, as definitions may vary all over the place.
What is shows is that rice and scooters are cheaper here than in Germany.
If you really want to make her day, then also remind her that Germany is more or less 2 countries seen from a standard of living point of view. You have the east and the west, and there are some differences in how much money the average Gunther has depending on which side of the old iron carpet you are on.[/quote]
Hey Mr. He, are you trying to reduce my âlazily hanging around on a Saturday afternoonâ-quality of life by making me start a discussion with my GF?
Even worse, your arguments wouldnât help me: Germany (21) ranks ahead of Taiwan (22) in the PPP index (but not in the quality of life index), so I donât have to question the PPP calculation. Concerning the west-east divide, this is true when looking at the GDP per capita. However, in terms of quality of life Iâd divide the country into north and south, with the south (states of Bavaria and Baden-W
Yeah, I believe it. This place is certainly chaotic compared to more âstableâ places such as Switzerland, but there is opportunity in chaos, as a friend once told me. On a side note, only in the last few years has Taiwan seen a large number of Europeans, as well as New Zealanders and South Africans, (among others) moving here. Around 10 years ago, most Westerners (who were fairly rare in the first place) were Canadian and American. Interesting how that has changed over time.
Believe it or not, I used to go entire days in Taipei without seeing another Western face.
[quote=âGuboâ]Yeah, I believe it. This place is certainly chaotic compared to more âstableâ places such as Switzerland, but there is opportunity in chaos, as a friend once told me. On a side note, only in the last few years has Taiwan seen a large number of Europeans, as well as New Zealanders and South Africans, (among others) moving here. Around 10 years ago, most Westerners (who were fairly rare in the first place) were Canadian and American. Interesting how that has changed over time.
Believe it or not, I used to go entire days in Taipei without seeing another Western face. [/quote]
and itâll drop a few more after 4 more years of Bush 
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