www.GNHUSA.org

Changing what we Measure from Wealth to Well-Being

Gross National Happiness

“The time is ripe for our measurement system to shift emphasis from measuring economic production to

measuring people’s well being.”

Stiglitz Commission Report, August 2009, p. 12, emphasis in original

Robert F. Kennedy challenges Gross Domestic Product

Nic Marks 2010G

Joseph Stiglitz - Problems with GDP as an Economic Barometer

RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

What is Gross National Happiness?

What’s wrong with GDP?

• Measures Domestic Production– Positive feedback loop to increase production– Increases growth endlessly

• Counts “regrettables” as positive• Fails to account for environmental costs,

livecycle costs or Natural Systems costs• Doesn’t get us what we really want

Happiness/Well-Being

• Subjective Well-Being• New science of Positive Psychology

– fMRI scanning allows real-time studies of thought processes

– Profiles of happiness common to all,• Release of dopamine and activation of pleasure

centers in the brain

• Altruism now shown to be hard-wired• More pleasure when giving than when receiving

The Happy Planet Index

• Costa Rica #1• US #114

– Happiness and life expectancy / ecological footprint

Exercise

• Please write down all the things that you desire

• Please place a check mark next to all those you expect will still be important to you in 5 years

• Rank order those• Write in how many hours per week you

spend on each of those items

The Four Pillars

• The promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development,

• the preservation and promotion of cultural values,

• the conservation of the natural environment, and

• the establishment of good governance.

Nine Domains of GNH

time useliving standardsgood governancepsychological well-beingcommunity vitality cultural vitalityhealtheducationecology

• MEW• ISEW• GPI• Green GDP• Adjusted Net Savings• HDI• GPI• EF • CF• HPI• GNH• ESI• QUARS• EA Satellite Accounts• SEEA• NAMEA• GEEA• SESAME• SDI• PCFI• MDG

Twenty one alternatives to GDP from

Goossens, Makipaa, Schepelmann, et al.,

“Alternative Progress Indicators to Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) as a means

toward sustainable development,”

European Parliament Committee on the

Environment, Public Health, and Food

Safety, 2007

What about money?

• Evidence is that you need a certain amount which varies depending on the people around you in your neighborhood and your work.

Your satisfaction relates to how you feel you are doing relative to others.

The GNH Program

1) Online clearinghouse for information, tools and resources www.gnhusa.org

2) Survey tools

3) GNH Policy Analysis Tools

4) Community discussions and action1) Conversation café’s – happiness circles

2) Report outs and discussion on Survey results

Policy and Program tools

• Checklists based on happiness indicators• Used to evaluate the effect on well-being

across the 9 domains for proposed policy or new programs.

• Ongoing Survey results show actual effects of the policy or program

Objective Measures

• Twitter – real-time, place and time • Look for key emotive words in 5 million

twitter feeds per day• Happiest time of the week is Saturday

around 8pm…• What about surveillance cameras? • Life expectancy,

Community

• Happiness is a core aspiration for everyone

• We need to discuss what improves well-being for everyone

• We need to guide our institutions to make policy and programs to enhance the pursuit of happiness

• We need ongoing, periodic measures to make sure we are progressing toward our goals.

Who is using this?

• UK, France, Scandinavian countries, OECD

• Brazil• China• Bhutan, Thailand• United Nations • UNDP• Maryland and Utah (GPI)

What we can do

• Learn about alternative measures of Well Being and progress

• Develop positive and inspiring future visions—I have a dream…

• Become data literate and insist that media and academic institutions and all levels of government and business use comprehensive well-being indicators

• Family and Community discussions about our pursuit of happiness

www.GNHUSA.org

Gross National Happiness USA envisions a sustainable future, based on Changing what we measure from Wealth to Well-Being.

Help build a national movement.

Gross National Happiness