I am sure by now all of you have gone through the Bhutan Happiness story - one question to all who think happiness is not an economics variable....We have debated in class as to why GDP may or may not be a good measure of growth and progress. Wangchuk's thoughts on happiness and its link to GDP inspired a series of variables and concepts to measure well-being. If human welfare is the purpose of the state's economic activities, then why shouldn't it be important to measure that well-being.
The case discusses some contrast between income and happiness. Is it really a decision variable? Do we measure happiness by the number and quality of goods we can buy? Are we confusing being satiated with being happy? Does it make sense for a country like Bhutan to brag about being happy when the Americans have spent millions of dollars to find ways to improve their national well being (even if that meant fighting wars)?
I would like a debate on why happiness is definitely an economic variable and why measuring it is part of measuring the growth of a nation. Also keep in mind the seven areas of wellness of GNH when you articulate your view....
Archana
The unhappiest people in the world are those who don't get there basic neccessities so there are the people who are unhappy because they are not able to satisfy there basic needs, so even though not in all cases but manytimes happiness and satisfaction are interrelated. I agree to the point that income after satisfying basic needs many not increase happiness but it has a relationship with happiness to some extend
ReplyDeleteMaybe the reason is not economic but political. Even though the political system in Bhutan is turning towards democracy the King holds majority of powers in state affairs.
ReplyDeleteThe state does not want the youth and the educated who are returning to their motherland, to go against the govt. on account of no development and industrialization and the state wants to keep the population pacified by telling them that they are happiest people in the world and stop worrying about being poor or what-if you don't have access to oppurtunities.
Every nation takes its own time to adapt or accept change. When we discuss a nation like Bhutan we cannot overlook the fact that Bhutan is and has always been an extremely rigid society with buddhist values deeply ingrained in the minds of people. Buddhism believes in the fact that "Greed leads to Misery". For a society that takes so much pride in its tradition and beliefs it is not an easy task to change overnight and start accepting this. From their perspective, The very concept of GDP breeds a society that believes in consumerism which goes strongly against their principles of shunning greed. So what we are seeing in case of Bhutan is a mere state of resilience to change.
ReplyDeleteHere we may argue that three decades is a long enough duration to bring about a change. But think about it..We Indians take so much pride in being so advanced in every field, but still even after a century long fight against evil practices like Dowry and child marriage, we still see that it is in practice in remote areas of our very own nation.
I therefore feel that in spite of choosing to be in denial w.r.t GDP, indirectly GNH although not a quantifiable measure is contributing to the nations growth by focusing on parameters like healthcare,education,standard of living etc. and Bhutan is able to plan its economy better without getting lost in developing all the parameters. The only good part about GNH is the fact that without their knowledge they are opening up to the world and blending more with the outside world rather than remaining isolated plus it is giving them a direction towards improving the nation as a whole.
I believe that with time things change and so will the economy of Bhutan. As of now if they wish to give it a tag of GNH and believe in a utopian concept let them be. With time the nation will be able to shed its inhibitions and rise to a position where it can appreciate the importance of GDP.
Some readings of GNH, as proclaimed by Bhutan.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/Default.aspx
Bhutan holds a strategic location on the world map, a landlocked nation surrounded by the biggest democracy, the biggest communist and the newest republic.
Bhutan is one of those few countries which has been independent throughout its history like Nepal, never conquered, occupied, or governed by an outside power. In 1910, under the treaty of Punakha, Bhutan became a suzerain of British Government in exchange for political autonomy. In August 1947, after India gained independence from British Kingdom, Bhutan was given an option to remain independent, or join Indian Union. Bhutan chose the earlier option and on August 8, 1949 Bhutan’s independence was recognized by India. Since then India and Bhutan hold diplomatic relations, and grew over trade and development.
Bhutan had traditional trade relation with Tibet. However, Bhutan closed its northern borders with China after the influx of Tibetan refugees in 1960. With that the age old cross-border trade came to a halt. Since then, there has been no official trade or business relation between Bhutan and China. Until seventies, Bhutan’s border issues with China were incorporated with in the scope of Sino-Indian border discussions. Later China and Bhutan started direct bilateral border talk in early eighties. The Sino-Bhutan direct border talk was held first time in Beijing in 1984.
Tibet owing very niche popularity in the globe, the invasion of China in 1950, was unprecedented as even by World’s most powerful nations could not oppose. Subsequently India lost Aksai Chin (part of J & K) in war against China in 1962. Such an aggressive move of China was a threat to the Bhutan’s Monarchy. Sensing the need of security, Bhutan had to highlight their presence on the world map. After joining UNO in 1970, in 1972, then The 4th Druk Gyalpo His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck exercised the concept of GNH.
By doing so:
- Bhutan provoked all developed and developing nations and drew attention.
- Indirectly it made its presence felt in the world – beating US like countries in one measuring growth parameter.
- Assured future growth to attract aids and grants for its sustainable development.
Over and above this, by late 80s it was very crucial for Bhutan to realize upon its location amidst Himalayan hills. Since world was moving towards globalization very rapidly, industrialization was growing at a very rapid pace. Bhutan is not only surrounded by snowy Himalayan hills but also rivers are flowing like blood in the veins, on which it had built dams. So, Bhutan was under direct danger of Global warming, what it had to avoid at any cost to survive. Thus, it could avail aids tagging steps to avoid global warming.
Thus, I believe prominently above two reasons played major role, what made Bhutan to introduce and project the GNH concept so profoundly.
What is happiness, really? It equals money and prosperity, as measured by GNP (Gross National Product). But Bhutan, has been trying out a different concept. Espoused by the country's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, its government uses a different standard called GNH, or Gross National Happiness.Bhutan had to come up with a different approach to development - something that would monitor and regulate the nature and pace of change without compromising the essence of its citizens' well-being. Thus GNH was born.
ReplyDeleteIt is not something very unique because the nine indicators use to measure it are directly or indirectly present in GDP measures also.What it does is just say the same thing in a less materialistic way.
Over the time when it sees other nations doing really well without endangering their culture,Bhutan will also come out of its self-created GNH concept and understand why every country uses the GDP approach.
BHUTAN IS SERIOUS ABOUT HAPPINESS!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat are the benefits from GNH for Bhutan?
Happiness is the eternal quest of man. Happiness is the ultimate objective of human being at the individual level, but GNH is the national goal in Bhutan. The 8th ranked country in terms of happiness has gained the reputation of being a peaceful country around the world and where there is no much threat from terrorism, economic disparity, sophisticated life style etc. As the elasticity of the economic status of the country is highly dependent on the amount of investment in social areas, Bhutan tries to bank on this. Their principle is "health is wealth, wealth is ill-health." Through this, the country has cautiously avoided the trend of rapid growth maximization. Bhutan insisted on the fact that beyond the subsistence level, the marginal value of money in creating happiness drops off rather precipitously.
GNP is basically the measure of some variables which necessarily do not reflect the true picture of the country. If we spend more money on lawyers to sue each other, GNP shoots up! If we hire more police officers, our GNP goes up. We can spend millions in national defence and still GNP moves up. But we may have no clue about peace and happiness. As happiness is the most yearning of the electorate both individually and collectively and as it transcends ideological or contentious value, public policies based on GNH is far meaningful for Bhutan.
Why GNH in Bhutan?
As Bhutan is much based on the Buddhist culture, it is always guided towards GNH. Enlightening the inner self of human nature became a far greater task than manipulating the world for personal or even national gain. So they have developed the holistic and unconventional approach. through this method they were optimistic about abating the rise in mental illness, alcoholism, related crimes, divorces etc. 60% of the country is to remain forested. Public smoking is banned. they think that instead of industrialization, preserving environment for the future generation is more important.
My point of view is that bhutan has very wit fully used the Maslow's hierarchy but they have made a flaw. The law says that higher levels of hierarchy cannot be attained without qualifying the lower needs. So overall, analysis of an economy should be done by using GNH and GNP both.
If the effectiveness of any policy made is measured by the outcome produced then... Today Bhutan growth rate is 21.4%(as per CIA 2008 est.). So does that mean GNH has actually helped Bhutan? Yeah I do agree that GNH is not quantifiable and Bhutan's GDP Growth is mainly due to hydro electric projects.But if Bhutan has been taking Macro decisions for improving GNH and then can t we say that GNH has actually made a difference?
ReplyDelete