Developed societies = happy societies? Growth or development - BRIC

Abstract

e paper presents the eects of the approach of the BRIC countries' authori- ties (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to the issues of growth, development and social satisfaction. e aim was to establish which of the BRIC countries best used the fa- vorable economic conditions for achievement of social objectives. e paper shows the results of reasearches on a correlation between the assessment of quality of life of the population and growth as well as economic development on the example of the BRIC countries. Comparison of qualitative and quantitative (from economic to psychologi- cal) indicators allowed to evaluate the eectiveness of governments' policies. As a result of the analysis, the author stated that a steady increase in income is essential and should be used by the authorities of the state to ensure the development and to satisfy the needs of the society. In the last three decades, BRIC achieved dynamic eco- nomic growth, which in dierent ways inuenced the socio-economic development. Consequently, only Brazil used the economic growth properly to improve the social and living conditions of the population, which had an eect on the level of the hap- piness of the society.