GDP For Wellbeing or Wellbeing For GDP? By Thierry Malleret, economist The sustained recent US economic outperformance (measured in terms of GDP per capita) has prompted many commentators to extol the virtues of the US system, with new laments in Europe about the continent falling behind. This new atmosphere raises again the question of how to measure a country’s welfare, both from an economic and…
Backslash, the cultural intelligence unit of TBWA\Worldwide (one of the world’s top advertising agencies) just released its “Future of Food” report. Food isn’t just an industry, it’s a key ingredient in how we treat our planet and how we connect with one another: We can build a much better world through food. Throughout the report, health and wellness are central. Key trends include: “Food RX,”…
Gallup undertakes the only representative sampling of the world’s workforce (surveying 160,000 a year). Their latest study has good and bad news: Employees are now more engaged at work but also feel much more stress. Engagement findings: The percentage of engaged employees globally rose from 2021 to 2022. Starting as low as 12%, the percentage of engaged employees has risen to 23%. That’s a disturbingly low…
The Big, Unaddressed Health & Wellness Issue: Surging Air Pollution and Wildfires By Thierry Malleret, economist Seven million people die prematurely every year because of outdoor air pollution, making it one of the leading causes of early death. A recent update of the WHO air quality guidelines provides clear evidence of the damage that air pollution inflicts on human health at even lower concentrations than…
A 2023 study from University of Rochester medical researchers found that yoga has a powerful, positive effect on inflammation in cancer patients. The high-quality randomized control trial had 500 cancer patients do twice-weekly yoga or health education classes for a month. Blood tests showed that those practicing yoga had “significantly lower levels of pro-inflammatory markers” compared with patients in the education group. The researchers’ conclusion: “Clinicians…
A new study from Newcastle University-UK found that heart attack patients treated with a compound derived from a plant long used in traditional Chinese medicine, astragalus, experienced significantly reduced inflammation (up to 62%, and 30% more than with traditional anti-inflammatory medications.) Patients also experienced less chest and joint pains. Unlike current post-heart-attack treatments, the herbal treatment not only did not compromise patients’ immune systems, it actually…
