Yet, while these countries are quite rich and competitive by conventional standards, their populations are dissatisfied with key aspects of their lives. According to the World Happiness Report 2019, the citizens of Hong Kong, France and Chile feel that their lives are stuck in important ways.
SINGAPORE (Nov 4): Three of the world’s more affluent cities have erupted in protests and unrest this year. Paris has faced waves of protests and rioting since November 2018; soon after, French President Emmanuel Macron raised fuel taxes. Hong Kong has been in upheaval since March, after Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed a law to allow extradition to the Chinese mainland. And Santiago exploded in rioting last month after President Sebastian Piñera ordered an increase in metro prices. Each protest has its distinct local factors, but, taken together, they tell a larger story of what can happen when a sense of unfairness combines with a widespread perception of low social mobility.
By the traditional metric of GDP per capita, the three cities are paragons of economic success. Per capita income is around US$40,000 ($54,510) in Hong Kong, more than US$60,000 in Paris, and around US$18,000 in Santiago, one of the wealthiest cities in Latin America. In the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report issued by the World Economic Forum, Hong Kong ranks third, France 15th and Chile 33rd (the best in Latin America by a wide margin).
