Everybody knew it would be one of the Big Three. or Big Five, but who could have imagined that tiny Costa Rica would emerge as the Cinderella team of 2014?
It places a spotlight on a remarkable Latin American story that often gets lost in the headlines.
According to the latest global measure of how countries “deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them,” Costa Rica ranks No. 1 as the “happiest and greenest” country in the world. Canada, in contrast, ranks No. 65.
Costa Rica is smaller in size than Nova Scotia and has only 4.5 million people, but it is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world. The global index by the respected British think-tank, the New Economics Foundation, reports that Costa Ricans have the highest life satisfaction in the world and live longer than Americans. They are on track to be the first “carbon neutral” country in the world by 2021.
Source: Tony Burman in The Toronto Star, July 5
Eric Koch’s new book, New Beginnings, was launched on September 20. The book is available from 
Part of the Costa Rican advantage is that they have never had a standing army and don’t bear the cost of a military which in many Central American countries represents a large percentage of the government budget & which in Costa Rica goes to things like education. In addition, Costa Rica is a democracy, which uses a proportional electoral system. If Canada had an element of PR in our electoral system we might rank higher than 65 on the world scale.