Whenever a survey of the world's happiest country is released, European welfare states usually top the list.

The first World Happiness Report, released by the Earth Institute last month, was commissioned by the United Nations for its Conference on Happiness. It again shows that the world's happiest countries are all in northern Europe Denmark came top followed by Finland, Norway and the Netherlands.

China doesn't even make the top 100, which should come as no surprise when we consider the measurements used to judge the quality of life in a country: health, education, housing, the environment, jobs, community, work-life balance and incomes.