This research examines the positive influence of democracy and economic liberalism on citizens' quality of life (QOL). The statistical analysis relies on extreme-bounds analysis, the Tobit-maximum likelihood estimator, and robust two-stage least squares to test this hypothesis. The relationship between democracy and QOL is a parabolic inverted U-shaped curve, so that democracy first enhances QOL and over time it hampers it. On the other hand, QOL strengthens democracy. QOL suffers from a market economy in middle-income countries. Openness to trade enhances QOL everywhere but sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. A market economy consolidates democracy everywhere else but sub-Saharan Africa. Openness enhances democracy around the globe, except in Latin America and the Middle East. Economic development and QOL exhibit a reciprocal normal U-shaped curve, whereas democracy and economic development are linearly dependent. These contradictory results cast some doubt on the pursuit of both democracy and a liberal economy in fostering development. The current pursuit of the liberal ethos can be destructive, and it is time to modify our vision of the future.
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