IL Postcard

Looks Like the Mañana Syndrome Is a Good Thing After All

Date: 10/17/2007

October 17, 2007
Panama City, Panama

Happy, happy, happy. That’s me. And now I know why.

Panama is one of the happiest places on the planet. So says a British research organization.

Can’t say I disagree, although I attribute most of our “happiness” to the “mañana image” we’re so often saddled with. Panamanians like to take things easy, you see, and that keeps stress low. So if we’re 20 minutes late to a business meeting (not me, of course) or two weeks late meeting a deadline (ahem)…no sweat (somehow, we still manage to have the fastest-growing economy in Latin America).

It think this easy-going attitude is what makes Panama one of the best places in the world to live. And to give credence to that statement, a study of global happiness and ecological impact ranks Panama is one of the "happiest" places in the world.

he study is the Happy Planet Index, compiled by British research organization the New Economics Foundation (NEF). This year it rates Panama fifth in a global ranking of countries with "happy" citizens (Panama ranks third in the study's Central and South America category, after Colombia and Costa Rica, respectively). The study takes into account life satisfaction, life expectancy, and "ecological footprint"—the amount of land needed to sustain the population and counter its consumption.

On a scale of 0 to 100, Panama earned an index of 63.5. Overall, the study indicates that Panama has one of the world's lowest "ecological footprints" and one of the highest "life satisfactions" (based on surveys of 1,000 to 3,000 people with a representative distribution of income and region).

Numbers one and two on the Happy Planet Index are Vanuatu and Colombia, respectively. The U.S. came in 150th.

Other Latin American countries ranked in the index's top 10 include Cuba (sixth), Honduras (seventh), Guatemala (eighth) and El Salvador (ninth). Researchers say that Central America is the region with the highest average score in the index.

“The region combines relatively good life expectancy (an average of 70 years) and high life satisfaction, with an ecological footprint below its globally equitable share,” says the NEF. The agency adds: “Central America has had a notorious history of conflict and political instability, but the last 15 years have been relatively peaceful, which perhaps, with traditionally high levels of community engagement, explains its success.”

The NEF created the Happy Planet index to counter systems that rate nations according to national income. The agency says it wants to show that people can live long, happy lives with a minimal impact on the earth. You can find out more about the NEF here.

Best regards,

Jessica Ramesch
Editor, Panama Insider