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  • Have you ever asked yourself which is the best country to live in?

  • Well, when we want to know which country that is, we usually tend to take a look at the

  • countries GDP.

  • Buthowever important and relevant this indicator might be, it has certainlimitations.

  • See, this statistic is too wide and can hide the influence of bubbles, the actions of dishonest

  • politicians, and more complex issues like accounting for the online economy...

  • It is true, though, that wealth and comfort are closely related to the GDP.

  • But it is not an exact correlation.

  • Let me explain: we could be analysing a country with a per capita GDP higher than another,

  • but the latter could have a better welfare despite having a lower GDP.

  • And there are other factors as well that are not strictly economic but also affect the

  • social wellbeing of people, such as security or freedom.

  • Alright, so now I know what some of you are thinking...

  • Don’t all these things result in a wealthier country, with a higher GDP?

  • Well, yes, probably, but it usually takes a while before any of this can be seen in

  • terms of numbers and statistics.

  • For instance, Kuwait's GDP per capita might be higher than in Germany, however, when given

  • the choice, I’d probably prefer to live in the latter...

  • It is also more likely that Germany will do more complex and high-added value activities

  • like creating patents and innovative companiesat least in the long run.

  • In other words: Kuwait might be richer but, at the same time, Germany might be taking

  • better advantage of its wealth in order to produce welfare, sustainable wealth, technology

  • and knowledge.

  • Seems a pretty sensible decision, right?

  • Well, that is why there are new indicators to try to make a more accurate approximation

  • so we can work out the prosperity and comfort of different nations.

  • One of them is the famous Legatum Prosperity Index...

  • National success is about far more than just GDP.

  • It is about a healthy and happy life, a good education for our children, a clean and protected

  • environment, family and communities we can rely on, a safe place to live, opportunities

  • to start a business or get ahead, and the freedom to be who we want to be.

  • This is true prosperity.

  • Legatum Institute”.

  • And, do you know what?

  • According to the latest rankings, the most prosperous country on Earth is

  • New Zealand!

  • THE MOST PROSPEROUS COUNTRY

  • To try to get a deeper knowledge of the prosperity of a country, beyond the GDP, the Legatum

  • Prosperity Index considers tons of different factors: economics, business, civil liberties,

  • government, education, environment

  • Well, every aspect that accounts for quality of life in a country.

  • So, in the latest ranking, the result was clear: nowadays New Zealand, the land of kiwi,

  • is the most prosperous country on the planet.

  • And honestly, it wasn't a surprise at all.

  • New Zealand has taken first place six times in the last ten years.

  • Not bad, right?

  • And now you might be wondering: Which are the countries New Zealand is competing with

  • to win the crown of the best country on Earth?

  • Well, you won't be surprised...

  • At the top of the list we can find countries like Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Canada

  • or Australia.

  • It’s tough competition!

  • I should mention that we are soon going to explain on this channel show this country

  • achieved all of this after so much crisis.

  • So you know, if you want to know more, do not forget to subscribe!

  • But, let’s move on

  • If you think New Zealand is ranked number one for just this indicator, you couldn’t

  • be more wrong...

  • If we consider the Doing Business ranking, for instance (a ranking that classifies countries

  • according to how easy it is to set up a company and do business) we can see that New Zealand

  • is also in the number one spot in the latest ranking.

  • New Zealand Dethrones Singapore as Easiest Place to Do Business

  • If we use the Index of Economic Freedom from the Heritage Foundation, we will see New Zealand

  • in third position, right after Singapore and Hong Kong

  • If we use the ranking of the Fraser Institute (a ranking that considers both economic and

  • civil freedom) New Zealand is also in the top 3, just behind Hong Kong and Switzerland.

  • And if this is not enough for you and you want more specific information, I can also

  • tell you that New Zealand is the least corrupt country on Earth according to Transparency

  • International.

  • A position it shares with Denmark.

  • Yep, unlike other countries we happen to know well... it is very uncommon for this country's

  • government to have their hands in the till...

  • Furthermore, this is also one of the safest countries in the world, one of the most environmentally

  • friendly, and it also has the All Blacks, the best national rugby team in the planet!

  • But let’s stop talking about rankings because we could go on forever

  • They do seem to make one thing clear, and that is that on paper New Zealand sure does

  • look like one of the best places in the world to live

  • By the way, jere is a surprising fact about Aotearoa (as it is said in Maori - which is

  • an official language there).

  • They are really proud of the Maori culture and the integration of these polynesian people

  • the British found when they arrived on these islands.

  • It is true, no matter where you go, the Maori culture is present.

  • Okay, so moving onon the 23rd of September 2017, elections took place in this country.

  • A RECORD ELECTION

  • The first thing we need to remember is that New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy.

  • That´s right: Elizabeth II is still the queen of this country.

  • But it is just a symbolic position.

  • In New Zealand the government is elected by the parliament and the term lasts three years.

  • Further, when New Zealanders go to vote, they have to vote twice:

  • One of the votes goes to a single candidate from one political party.

  • This will will complete a part of the parliament - the other will go to an MP who will represent

  • their district.

  • So, as we said, on the 23rd of September New Zealand held an election and it was a clear

  • victory for the National Party of Bill English.

  • Bill English already was, by the way, the Prime Minister since the resignation of John

  • Key in December 2016...

  • We are also going to talk about this former prime minister some day.

  • So, this new victory for the National Party was historical in a way.

  • And it was for two reasons: first: because never before had this party got so many votes

  • in an election.

  • And second: because if the new government is confirmed, the National Party will have

  • been in power since 2008, the longest period in office for a party in New Zealand for more

  • than 50 years And truth be told, there are plenty of reasons

  • why Bill English won:

  • As we have seen, the country is in great shape.

  • In fact it is going through one of its best moments in history.

  • The economy is growing well, employment is higher than the OECD average, and unemployment

  • is scarce.

  • Plus they also have healthy public finances.

  • During Mr English’s eight years as finance minister unemployment fell, the budget returned

  • to a surplus and New Zealand enjoyed one of the highest growth rates in the developed

  • worldThe National Party’s intentions to continue

  • with the politics they have carried out since 2008:

  • More trade, a balanced budget, and also to keep also the immigration rates higher than

  • ever.

  • This has been a very important aspect of their political campaign.

  • I mean, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

  • “181,000 jobs have been created in the last two years, and the average annual wage is

  • up $13,000 under National.

  • Someone working on the minimum wage has seen their annual income go up $8,000 since 2008.”

  • Despite this all, the campaign hasn't been as comfortable as some expected

  • After all, even in the most prosperous country there are challenges and unsolved issues.

  • JACINDMANIA AND CHALLENGES

  • When Jacinda Ardern was elected leader of the Labour Party, the Party wasn’t exactly

  • going through it’s best moment.

  • In the elections of 2014, the Labour Party barely got the 25% of the vote - about half

  • the votes of John Key’s National Party...

  • However, shortly after they chose a new leader who was only 37 years old, and things started

  • to change

  • The press called itJacindmania”.

  • Two things have been the keys of Jacinda´s campaign: housing and immigration.

  • You see, one of the problems in New Zealand is the price of houses, something that has

  • skyrocketed in the few last years.

  • Here, the price of housing has increased much more than in Australia, Canada, or the United

  • States.

  • New Zealand tops world house price increase

  • But why is the price of housing growing so much?

  • Well, for several reasons, but there are 3 main ones causes:

  • First: Economy and salaries are increasing a lot in New Zealand.

  • Second: Immigration rates are higher than ever.

  • This is one of the countries that receives more immigrants every year (relative to their

  • population, of course).

  • And more immigrants means a greater demand for housing.

  • And third: because many millionaires and investors, especially from Asia, but also from other

  • parts of the world, want to buy houses here to but their money in a safe placeand

  • also to enjoy the country!

  • One example of these people would be Jack Ma, the CEO of Alibaba.

  • The National Party wanted to tackle this issue by making construction easy and fast; The

  • Labour Party of Jacinda Ardern came up with two suggestions: first, reducing the number

  • of immigrants by half, and second, prevent foreign investors from buying houses in New

  • Zealand...

  • It was this speech on housing and immigration that revived the support of the party, and

  • the polls seemed to indicate, at times, a very close race...

  • But once the elections arrived, the kiwis, they didn't hesitate...

  • Let´s be clear: New Zealand is a great country.

  • It has some obstacles to overcome: housing, improving Maori integration, and working on

  • its technical education, but these in the grand scheme are small problems.

  • We are going to discuss this all in a future video, but for now, New Zealanders enjoy one

  • of the best living standards in the world.

  • Anyway, now it is your turn: Would you like to spend some time in New Zealand?

  • Leave your answers in the comments below!

  • Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel for brand new videos every Monday and Thursday.

  • Also, don’t forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided

  • the vocals in this episode that were not mine!

  • And as always, thanks for watching!

Have you ever asked yourself which is the best country to live in?

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なぜニュージーランドは地球上で最も豊かな国なのか?- VisualPolitik EN (Why Is New Zealand the Most Prosperous Country on Earth? - VisualPolitik EN)

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    852 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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