Gross National Happiness

In most of the world, the economic bottom line is GDP, aka, gross domestic product. This is the total amount of economic activity that takes place in a country over a given time.  The trouble with using GDP as the way we define ourselves economically is that it includes unproductive and negative line items like the cost of running our prison systems, the cost of cleaning up toxic waste sites, and the cost of maintaining a military force that's way out of proportion to need.

In the kingdom of Bhutan, a small country in the Himalayas adjacent to Nepal, they have evolved a different, more positive way to reflect their economic success. it is called, Gross National Happiness, aka, GNH.  The bottom line in Bhutan is the happiness and quality of life of its people.

This idea was spawned in 1972 by the leader of Bhutan at that time, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. The idea was to focus the energy of the nation's economy on serving it's people.  Snice then, GNH has been formalized into a central theme for public policy and Bhutan's economic development plan.

What can the Bhutanese be thinking?  A central economic principle that puts it's people, and it's environment, and it's culture ahead of mindless market forces?    Who's going to pay for it's prisons, it's toxic waste cleanup, and it's bloated military?  Oh, I forgot...there is very little crime, almost no toxic waste, and virtually no military in Bhutan. 

There is a group here in the US that's focused on GNH. Here is the link...

http://www.gnhusa.org/