The Monocle Minute

For the eighth time in a row, the Finns have been ranked first in the UN’s World Happiness Report, published yesterday. (Yawn – but also, come on, really?) More intriguingly, the second-placed Danes have been taking a closer look at their own happiness. To coincide with the UN report, the Realdania Foundation, a Danish philanthropic architecture and planning association, released the results of the nation’s largest-ever investigation into the subject, drawing on the responses of 122,000 residents. While its conclusions broadly support what we already know – the key ingredients of happy societies are trust, equality and community – the study also reveals an unexpected demographic to be even happier than the locals.

Realdania has found that foreigners living in Denmark are now happier than native Danes. Americans score particularly highly for mental wellbeing (feeling relaxed, finding meaning in life and so on), are satisfied with safety (especially for children and after dark) and have a high level of trust in both local and national governments. The scores for Filipinos are better still, while Thais, Vietnamese and Germans are also enjoying an abundance of joy in Denmark.

Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising. Outsiders can be more acutely aware of the good things about their adopted homes. What has changed in Denmark is that these now far outweigh the bad. A couple of decades ago, in the dark ages before the New Nordic food revolution, Danish shops didn’t open at reasonable times and going out was limited to Fridays and Saturdays. Expats would grumble about the weather, taxes, dour locals and bland food. Denmark has undergone quite an evolution.

Meanwhile, the Realdania analysts have somehow managed to crunch the data to identify the precise epicentre of Danish happiness – and it isn’t Copenhagen, where the expats mainly live and which excels in both food and retail. It is, in fact, the Jutland town of Knebel. I once enjoyed a long weekend in a summer house near Knebel and it was… nice. I’m sure that it has a lot of community spirit. It’s probably a lovely place for retirees too. But under no circumstances would I or anyone I know ever want to move there.

Regardless, the results shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. If you have moved to Denmark, the chances are that you’re wise to the benefits of its wealth redistribution. You might have noticed that the place that you now call home enjoys milder winters than where you came from; that the locals are more outgoing; that the food has its moments. Meanwhile, the outside world has begun to look a whole lot less appealing. Many – myself included – enjoy an overwhelming sense of gratitude for having escaped the mêlée. These days, when I meet the rare person (usually a Dane) who complains about life here, I ask them a simple question: “Is there somewhere else you’d rather live?” As much as I admire the Finns, the answer is never Finland.

Michael Booth is Monocle’s Copenhagen correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

The upper house of Germany’s parliament, the Bundesrat, is expected to give its final approval today for constitutional reforms that will allow the country to borrow hundreds of billions of euros for defence spending (writes Christopher Cermak). It’s hard to overstate just how big a sea change this is for Europe’s largest economy, not least because the initiative was led by Friedrich Merz, who heads the ordinarily frugal Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and is likely to be the next chancellor.

These reforms will strengthen Germany’s defence first and foremost. Outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz ushered in a Zeitenwende (turning point) by announcing a one-time military-spending package following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine but he was criticised for lacking follow-through in its aftermath. Now, Germany is making this commitment permanent. But to secure the bipartisan support needed for a constitutional change, the reforms also include huge spending on infrastructure and climate-change projects that could help to revive Germany’s flagging economy.

February’s federal elections appear to have been a wake-up call for the country’s centrist parties – the CDU, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Greens – which now realise that they must be bold if they want to keep the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AFD) party from power. As Merz now goes about forming a coalition government, he has the political will and financing to not only transform the economy and military of Germany but of Europe too. It’s an opportunity that mustn’t be squandered.

In 1961 the Irish ambassador to the United States, Thomas J Kiernan, visited the White House (writes Andrew Mueller). This was an even bigger deal than it might normally have been: the tenant was the recently inaugurated John F Kennedy, whose great-grandparents had emigrated to the US from Ireland.

Kiernan brought Kennedy an Oval Office-warming present: a potted Swedish ivy. Perhaps the gift wasn’t very Irish but it was certainly appropriately green (the plant, Plectranthus verticillatus, is actually South African). A Swedish ivy had since adorned the Oval Office mantlepiece, providing a languid backdrop to some of the most consequential meetings of the past six decades. Clippings were even distributed to distinguished visitors in the hope that they might grow their own once they got back home.

But no longer. Some time after Donald Trump reclaimed the Oval Office, the ivy vanished. The mantlepiece that it once adorned now glistens with gilded statuary of as-yet-undisclosed provenance. It is leadenly speculated that these are golf prizes, accrued on Trump’s own courses. Those who recall his pre-presidency predilection for decorating his resorts with fake Time magazine covers of himself will have little difficulty believing this.

There is one other tantalising possibility. A trove of prizes awaits the first journalist to get close enough to one of these trophies to discern, carved in suspiciously familiar handwriting, the words “Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Donald Trump for Being the Best at Peace”.

An agreement signed by Canada and Greece aims to increase the numbers of visitors between the two countries (writes Tomos Lewis). The deal, signed in Athens last week, will formalise the sharing of travel data and help to tailor the way in which the hospitality offering in one market is promoted to holidaymakers in the other. It will also increase collaboration on travel campaigns. The agreement reflects the increasingly sunny relationship between the two nations in recent years, with bilateral merchandise trade totalling €415.5m in 2024. “Having a blooming tourism industry and collaborating with partners who share the same vision is important to us,” Greece’s tourism minister, Olga Kefalogianni, tells The Monocle Minute. “We will work together to preserve our natural and cultural environment while attracting more visitors.”

The move is well-timed. Travel patterns in Canada have changed since the US began its series of tariffs in February, which has caused a dip in journeys from north to south. As Canadian travellers seek out alternative destinations, Europe is likely to be the biggest beneficiary. Similar tourism agreements between Canada and other European countries are expected to follow.

Curator and editor Carla Sozzani has long helped to shape the direction of Italian fashion, art and design. Now the founder of high-end retailer 10 Corso Como is embarking on a new chapter. Here, she tells Monocle’s sister magazine, Konfekt, about the soon-to-open new location of her gallery, Fondazione Sozzani, and the importance of accessibility to culture.

Why did you choose Bovisa as Fondazione Sozzani’s new site?
I wanted to change the foundation’s location for many years. My partner, Kris Ruhs, found this former tile factory when he was looking for a new studio. Over the course of our 35-year relationship, we have never worked in the same place so we were excited about the idea.

What are your plans for this new venture?
I want to begin a new chapter involving exhibitions, events, lectures, scholarships, courses and special projects. We have built a library of books on fashion, photography, design and art. A few steps from the library is the exhibition archive. I’d like to make these places accessible for students. I’m interested in cultural education. We collaborate with five tutors at the foundation and offer scholarships and residencies in fashion and photography. Students can take courses in theory and practice, and we support them in working experimentally.

You have worked with some of the most important photographers of the late 20th century. Which exhibition do you particularly remember?
The first exhibition that I recall having an amazing reception was a showcase of work by Helmut Newton. The queue of visitors went round the block and the police came. At the beginning of the 1990s, our approach to photography was unique in Milan. We showed photographers such as Paolo Roversi, Sarah Moon and Bruce Weber. It was exciting to see how many people were attracted to our programme, which also included fashion showcases. We exhibited Martin Margiela, Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, André Courrèges and Zandra Rhodes, among others.

To read more, pick up a copy of Konfekt’sspring issue, out now.

We report from San Francisco as Monocle’s Christopher Lord speaks with some of the key players and devotees of the city’s downtown – an area that has most keenly felt the effects of the post-pandemic lull. The city’s mayor, as well as property developers and local business people, weigh in on the direction of travel they see for this gold-rush city known for its boom-and-bust nature.