Moreover, in a recent Canadian study, the happiest people turned out to reside in the poorest provinces, such as Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, while citizens in the richest provinces, notably Ontario and British Columbia, were among the least happy. Since happiness is ultimately what people want the most, while wealth is only a means to that end, the primacy now accorded to economic growth would appear to be a mistake.
另一份最近发表的加拿大国内研究成果也显示，那些幸福感最强的人们都居住在最贫穷的省份，比如纽芬兰和新斯科舍，而安大略和不列颠哥伦比亚这些最富裕省份的居民却自认最不幸福。由于幸福感其实是由人们的终极欲望所决定，而财富只是实现这些欲望的其中一种方式，因此当前这种将经济发展奉为圭皋的做法很可能会误入歧途。