Quality of life index 2008

International living has devised an index with the above title. The 2008 index is as follows.

Country	Cost of Living	Leisure & Culture	Economy	Environment	Freedom	Health	Infrastructure	Risk & Safety	Climate	Final Score
France	50	98	85	72	100	100	95	100	87	85
Switzerland	35	91	100	78	100	98	94	100	77	84
United States	59	79	89	72	92	74	100	100	86	83
Luxembourg	36	81	98	80	100	92	78	100	83	82
Germany	45	87	69	83	100	94	85	100	79	80
Australia	36	75	68	80	100	91	91	100	93	79
Italy	51	100	58	74	100	93	65	100	87	78
New Zealand	43	87	60	83	100	92	65	100	84	77
Spain	50	72	54	75	100	94	71	100	87	76
Netherlands	32	85	60	67	100	91	88	100	85	75
Norway	27	82	78	78	100	95	61	100	71	74
Belgium	24	88	60	64	100	92	88	100	86	74
Argentina	66	71	44	66	100	86	63	100	93	74
Austria	31	83	61	87	100	90	70	100	76	74
Uruguay	67	76	40	72	100	80	62	100	93	74
Canada	47	78	63	62	100	88	82	100	67	74
Japan	14	97	75	71	92	94	69	100	84	74
Portugal	52	76	44	74	100	91	62	100	93	74
Malta	58	76	46	84	100	91	34	100	99	74
Liechtenstein	37	80	71	65	100	85	65	100	82	74
Iceland	28	90	63	74	100	91	59	100	74	72
Lithuania	58	72	43	81	100	84	56	100	79	72
Hungary	54	81	43	77	100	71	63	100	76	71
Denmark	20	60	65	84	100	90	72	100	78	71
Finland	28	69	63	68	100	86	75	100	76	71
Costa Rica	63	68	39	100	100	82	50	93	60	71
Sweden	11	76	63	75	100	87	88	100	68	71
Bulgaria	56	74	39	78	92	82	53	100	80	70
Czech Republic	41	82	46	74	100	86	61	100	67	70
Slovenia	42	74	49	74	100	76	56	100	83	70
Greece	37	68	50	70	100	89	60	100	79	70
Poland	41	78	43	72	100	84	63	93	76	69
Ecuador	66	63	35	93	83	73	41	86	100	69
Mexico	55	67	40	68	92	80	58	86	90	68
Panama	60	66	42	77	92	75	62	93	65	68
Monaco	31	90	60	30	92	85	60	100	89	68
United Kingdom	5	87	65	78	100	81	71	100	59	68
Croatia	25	72	40	77	100	80	56	100	95	68
Brazil	64	62	45	71	92	77	47	86	79	68
Slovakia	41	63	44	81	100	83	56	93	74	68
Estonia	55	60	47	77	100	66	60	86	74	68
Andorra	53	78	56	38	100	90	22	100	82	67
Korea, South (Rep of)	31	69	51	68	92	84	56	93	83	67
Latvia	54	79	46	51	100	68	60	86	73	67
Romania	45	78	39	75	92	68	56	86	84	67
Belize	65	50	36	93	92	69	53	93	60	66
Dominica	61	41	35	90	100	72	54	100	57	66
Chile	55	71	40	71	100	76	44	100	48	65
South Africa	47	63	40	75	92	56	47	86	98	65
Colombia	57	63	39	72	83	76	47	71	91	65
Saint Kitts & Nevis	58	47	36	72	100	74	55	100	57	65
Ireland	0	85	67	59	100	85	57	100	59	65
Mauritius	61	65	40	74	100	75	34	93	42	63
Israel	30	74	54	68	92	89	44	57	84	63
Moldova	65	66	32	75	58	71	56	71	91	63
Cyprus (Greek)	39	69	50	62	100	90	31	93	48	63
Antigua & Barbuda	46	59	43	74	83	52	63	100	57	62
Namibia	62	79	36	46	83	40	59	93	74	62
Ukraine	42	65	38	74	75	72	63	71	78	62
Bolivia	77	65	33	75	67	62	50	50	83	62
Grenada	49	56	33	75	92	69	59	86	57	62
Taiwan	44	50	54	75	92	72	34	79	68	62
Cayman Islands	56	41	60	26	92	80	47	100	57	62
Macedonia	62	68	36	72	67	65	47	71	79	62
Paraguay	73	63	33	64	67	74	34	86	68	62
Botswana	66	66	33	78	83	30	47	79	82	61
Barbados	27	62	44	72	100	65	50	100	57	61
Bahamas	18	71	51	74	100	53	44	100	65	61
Bosnia-Herzegovina	69	69	36	70	58	70	44	50	82	60
Dominican Republic	52	50	33	81	92	72	34	86	57	60
Puerto Rico	49	46	42	42	100	76	41	100	55	60
Bermuda	15	49	85	41	92	75	22	100	66	60
Honduras	66	34	35	70	67	69	41	79	83	59
Seychelles	54	62	36	78	67	54	41	100	55	59
Albania	55	65	36	74	67	78	41	64	65	59
Tunisia	58	65	38	68	25	77	38	86	85	59
Jamaica	52	47	33	77	75	75	50	79	57	59
Turkey	42	63	39	68	67	62	44	86	73	58
Singapore	45	75	60	39	42	78	53	100	39	58
Nicaragua	62	60	33	70	75	69	38	79	47	58
Malaysia	66	75	42	62	50	72	47	86	24	58
Guatemala	56	41	35	74	50	68	34	79	95	58
Venezuela	48	71	38	84	50	70	38	79	52	57
Morocco	35	37	38	67	67	66	34	100	92	57
Georgia	51	40	36	80	67	65	50	57	79	57
Nauru	85	9	39	64	100	57	13	100	38	57
French Polynesia	37	59	40	33	92	64	45	100	55	56
Belarus	61	78	40	75	8	54	56	64	77	56
Cuba	58	79	38	77	0	83	53	64	63	56
Suriname	61	47	36	78	83	62	44	64	39	56
China	51	68	61	54	8	71	47	57	89	56
Thailand	46	69	39	61	75	66	49	71	43	56
Tonga	66	26	32	65	50	69	41	100	63	56
El Salvador	58	46	35	65	75	73	41	79	42	56
Trinidad & Tobago	21	38	50	78	75	66	38	100	57	56
Armenia	59	56	40	81	42	48	47	64	72	56
Martinique	58	38	40	38	92	68	16	100	57	56
Guyana	58	65	35	77	67	59	41	64	39	55
Jordan	51	63	36	59	42	84	34	71	68	55
Mongolia	63	63	35	70	83	58	50	64	14	55
Brunei	61	63	54	95	25	55	28	79	25	54
Fiji	46	50	35	68	58	63	59	79	43	54
Palau	54	50	40	70	100	55	19	86	18	54
Lebanon	63	59	31	65	42	76	41	21	92	54
Bhutan	77	29	36	83	25	20	31	100	79	54
Peru	55	51	39	70	75	59	38	57	45	54
Ghana	56	29	35	67	92	42	41	64	62	53
Sri Lanka	59	37	36	78	67	55	41	71	40	53
Kiribati	72	13	31	57	100	56	13	100	38	53
Swaziland	51	60	32	81	17	29	38	86	96	53
Samoa (Western Samoa)	49	22	33	68	83	71	50	79	35	53
Lesotho	66	40	32	41	75	31	31	71	93	53
Malawi	55	43	35	68	50	34	41	64	89	52
Maldives	58	66	44	36	25	63	31	100	49	52
French Guiana	42	35	39	29	92	58	56	100	28	52
Russia	20	71	43	71	25	75	53	57	72	52
Madagascar	56	29	32	59	67	39	34	64	92	52
Bahrain	52	71	51	64	33	45	31	86	30	51
Philippines	55	63	36	68	67	49	34	71	20	51
Zambia	51	46	33	71	50	20	41	64	89	51
Comoros	56	38	32	74	50	38	31	100	40	50
Macau	38	46	53	0	50	64	25	100	79	50
Senegal	44	19	32	67	75	38	34	79	73	50
Syria	65	51	33	61	0	71	44	64	60	50
Egypt	49	51	36	65	25	79	38	79	32	50
Vanuatu	48	38	36	33	83	53	34	79	49	50
Vietnam	48	56	36	71	17	61	38	57	67	49
Solomon Islands	65	29	32	61	67	64	3	79	43	49
Benin	55	25	32	64	83	36	38	64	51	49
Kyrgyzstan	54	44	32	70	42	61	34	64	47	49
Cape Verde	55	31	36	36	100	52	34	64	36	49
India	15	41	46	68	75	62	41	64	47	49
Korea, North (DR of)	59	57	32	51	0	80	22	64	79	49
Nepal	69	21	31	68	25	41	28	64	91	49
Tuvalu	77	4	32	30	100	56	16	100	17	49
Kenya	45	49	33	62	67	33	34	57	66	49
Indonesia	39	47	36	74	75	55	38	36	47	48
Kuwait	39	79	58	42	42	73	28	57	18	48
Marshall Islands	69	21	33	26	100	73	6	79	23	48
Azerbaijan	41	47	40	71	25	42	44	64	62	48
Bangladesh	61	16	35	62	50	39	50	64	49	47
Uzbekistan	66	66	33	62	0	58	41	57	40	47
Kazakhstan	44	49	40	65	25	63	53	64	27	47
Tajikistan	70	26	35	67	25	53	34	29	80	47
Papua New Guinea	48	24	33	64	67	38	41	57	55	47
Qatar	46	66	56	54	25	48	28	79	13	47
Libya	20	69	43	51	0	75	38	71	67	47
Tanzania	49	29	33	74	58	31	34	64	51	46
Mayotte	76	4	32	17	92	42	0	100	46	46
Mozambique	61	4	35	70	58	13	34	64	76	46
Mali	56	13	33	62	83	26	31	64	50	46
Gambia	56	10	33	61	42	40	44	71	60	46
Micronesia	54	38	32	42	100	70	6	71	5	46
Myanmar (Burma)	72	37	32	71	0	53	44	64	35	46
Guinea-Bissau	61	22	31	64	58	33	31	64	47	46
Cambodia	56	35	35	77	25	32	38	64	47	45
Algeria	45	54	36	67	25	53	34	29	70	45
Iran	61	57	38	52	17	50	41	20	64	45
United Arab Emirates	42	56	72	16	17	80	19	79	10	45
Congo, Republic of	46	41	35	61	33	29	41	57	62	45
Togo	48	46	31	64	25	34	34	64	58	44
Turkmenistan	82	24	38	61	0	43	16	57	61	44
Uganda	48	35	33	61	42	34	34	43	70	44
Saudi Arabia	55	72	42	51	8	74	31	36	22	44
Gabon	39	15	35	65	33	47	50	64	49	43
Mauritania	51	13	39	58	33	33	34	64	64	43
Oman	44	47	43	62	25	65	38	64	2	43
Nigeria	38	31	33	62	50	29	38	57	58	43
Laos	63	21	35	74	8	31	41	57	51	43
Rwanda	49	22	33	68	25	32	31	64	62	43
Cameroon	44	31	33	65	17	32	34	64	66	42
Burundi	46	26	32	57	50	31	31	36	75	42
Equatorial Guinea	34	49	48	75	8	25	38	50	55	42
Burkina Faso	56	6	33	65	50	23	31	64	48	42
Niger	56	3	32	64	67	19	28	64	42	42
Central African Republic	55	26	32	72	42	24	34	36	54	42
Zimbabwe	24	62	0	77	8	34	41	64	93	42
Ethiopia	49	12	36	67	33	11	31	57	76	41
Haiti	55	21	32	61	42	39	28	36	53	41
Cote d'Ivoire	49	28	31	67	17	35	34	43	55	40
Pakistan	51	3	35	67	25	54	34	7	77	40
Angola	35	38	43	67	25	2	34	57	52	39
Congo, Democratic Republic of	27	31	33	58	17	31	38	64	62	39
Eritrea	56	25	31	29	8	29	38	57	73	39
Guinea	62	15	32	61	25	32	34	57	22	39
Liberia	52	41	35	57	50	14	38	21	28	38
Chad	38	18	31	68	25	15	34	57	50	37
Djibouti	46	13	32	65	33	36	38	57	8	37
Sierra Leone	58	7	18	62	45	10	34	21	24	32
Sudan	46	21	36	65	0	28	38	29	7	31
Yemen	52	22	31	19	33	40	31	36	0	31
Afghanistan	76	7	20	54	8	0	31	0	61	31
Somalia	62	0	28	55	12	7	35	36	16	30
Iraq	100	20	10	32	0	20	15	0	38	29

Bhutan elections

The Kingdom of Bhutan holds today its first democratic elections. I don't know the results and I have no idea about the local politics. (For those interested, the results can be found here).
My interest in the country stems from the fact that the former king adopted as a measure of prosperity of the country, not the gnp or any other similar economic index, but the index of happiness! The index is called Gross National Happiness (GNH) and it is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. The former king of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck coined this term in 1972. He wanted to build an economy that would serve Bhutan's culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. Like many moral goals, it is somewhat easier to state than to define. (Wikipedia provides a detailed article on the subject).

Comparison of Europe's and US research performance

An interesting article appeared recently (Dec 20, 07) on the web, entitled Europe’s poor research performance, that uses the Highly Cited Scientists data of the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), to compare research performance in Europe and the US. (The full article can be found here).

I have some reservations on the approach they use that I have posted in their site. My reservations are appended below.

I find your article, and the idea on which is based, interesting. However, I feel that your method fails to capture important aspects of the data used, thus arriving at comparisons/conclusions that are not necessarily representative of the true situation. The reason is that the ISI HCR’s index, assigns a scientist -and the totality of his output/achievements- to the latest Institution he is affiliated with, and to the country where this Institution is located. This may, sometimes, be accurate but quite often not entirely true. While such an index is certainly an indication of the quality of an institution (a good scientist would choose to go to a good place), it does not take into account the fact that the scientist may have been “nurtured” elsewhere.To give a real example I came across, Lopez-De-Silanes Florencio, an economist HCR “from” the Netherlands, has a Mexican origin (and first degree), got his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1993, was a Professor at Yale for 4 years, and has advised more than 10 governments around the world, before joining the University of Amsterdam in 2006. Seventy-eight of his 104 papers (contributing to his total number of citations) were published before he joined the University of Amsterdam. How can such a scientist be counted (solely) as a “European” in the US-Europe comparison? A similar problem of course arises with other indices used for scientific ranking, for example indices that give a substantial weight to the number of Nobel Prize winners affiliated with an institution. However a Nobel Prize winner, who is now at University X but did his award winning research at University Y, cannot be entirely “credited” to University X. Obviously, most of these indices favour the wealthiest institutions (beyond the obvious confounding effect).

Health care in California

This is a major step forward, if indeed goes through.

With Congress stalled on enacting a nationwide plan, individual states are starting to take matters into their own hands. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has just won approval from legislators for a major health-care reform which will expand coverage to most of the state's uninsured. It took nearly a year of sometimes fractious haggling, but legislators in America's most populous state have done what many predicted they could not. They have approved a bill to extend health insurance to virtually everyone in the nation's most populous state - all 36 million of them.