The Pursuit of Happiness with Peter Nicholson

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! An interesting topic on the pod today (one that really doesn’t get enough media coverage)… The Pursuit of Happiness.

Dr. Peter Nicholson is making his second appearance here on The Herle Burly and we’re talking about his specific observations on the 2024 World Happiness Report.

Peter has written a fantastic online piece on this for Air Quotes Media, and I encourage you to read it here.

The report explores the nature and implications of a particular concept of “happiness” in a cross-nation context, which has clear implications for public policy thinking. A key finding from the 2024 report, we’ll dive into today: 

  • People in the developing world are generally more optimistic about their future than people in the developed world.

  • Younger people are happier in the developing world. Older people less happy.

  • In the developed world, the opposite is true.

If you don’t know Peter, he’s a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia. He’s a polymath who has served in numerous posts in government, business, science and higher education. His long public service career included positions as Head of Policy in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada and the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist with Finance Canada. Peter is currently the Chair of the Board of the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices.

Join us as we explore why money is a necessary but insufficient component of happiness, and a lot more, with Peter Nicholson, one of the most curious people I know.

Thank you for joining us on The Herle Burly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes or your favourite podcast app.

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Watch this conversation on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

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