Came across this video which is part of a project to gather as many answers to the question of what makes people happy from different cities. This is the Parisian version. It’s quite a big question. The answers are quite interesting too. The answer(s) on my part would mostly revolve around my partner and family. This is a given. Being in Paris together is also a priceless gift!
50 people 1 question Paris from Stills in Motion Malmö on Vimeo.
Another reason I found the video’s topic interesting is because a few months ago I did some work on the economics of measuring happiness in national accounts. The idea was that we can’t continue to simply say that countries are doing well or progressing just because they have great Gross Domestic Product statistics. We may need to look beyond traditional measures for gauging progress and think more creatively about what it means to be well, and to be developing as individuals and as societies. For one, fantastic GDP measures were not good enough measures to see a financial crisis coming – so perhaps there is a case for other ways of gauging whether societies are doing well or not, such as coming up with wellbeing indicators, for example. The Organisation ofor Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), headquartered here in Paris has quite interesting work on this and a survey to see who and where are the people living who are living out their best lives, enjoying happier, more fulfilling lives. (Check out their Better Life Index website, where you can create your own index by clicking here)
I just did my own OECD index and I guess they mean that I should be looking into living in Canada if I am serious about having a better life. France is also a good place to be …
Anon's Paris 