Want to be Happy - Lose Everything and Start Over.

I just saw this post and found it rather incredible. It deals with the "positive experience index," which apparently surveys people in countries around the world to see who is the most content, as in happy with their lives. And the winner is . . . . Iceland. Those following the economic problems of the past few years realize that Iceland is to date the country most impacted, as in pretty much bankrupted, by the down turn. You see, their major banks (like three banks) seem to have gone quite crazy in the lending frenzy of the past decade, enough to bankrupt the entire country. And so they were perhaps the earliest to take their medicine and face austerity measures.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/edmundconway/100005727/which-country-is-the-smuggest-of-them-all/

So why are they so damn happy? Now one theory I have is that they took their medicine first and are at a point where they really have nothing left to lose. In other words, it is all up from here. Another theory is that the people there are just a happy lot and other than economic woes, they have a great life. Historically I think this is accurate. It is apparently a wonderful place to live. But my preferred theory is that they are wildly happy that they are able to dump volcanic ash on all of Europe and give a bit of pay-back for the economic pain countries there have imposed upon them. One almost thinks Iceland was planting bombs in the volcano to make it erupt to get even. I am open, by the way, to other theories.

Disclosures: None.