Back in 1972, Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan kingdom, proposed Gross National Happiness as a better indicator of well-being than Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Ever since, Bhutan has been a poster child for happiness. Its philosophy has influenced many international committees including one headed by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, which has just submitted its report on The Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress.
The Stiglitz report says that GDP is a poor measure of well-being, so countries should also measure quality-of-life indicators that make people happy, such as leisure, education, social relationships, political voice and governance. Happiness is, of course, much more than GDP. Yet Bhutan's dirty secret is that it is a world champion in GDP growth.
While household incomes in Bhutan remain among the world's lowest, life expectancy increased by 19 years from 1984 to 1998, jumping to 66 years. The country, which is preparing to shift to a constitution and an elected government, requires that at least 60 percent of its lands remain forested, welcomes a limited stream of wealthy tourists and exports hydropower to India.
Large dams are not usually regarded as sources of happiness. Environmentalists usually condemn them for displacing people and submerging forests. Bhutan's neat ploy has been to adopt a green name (Druk Green Power Corporation) for its hydropower producer. It gets away with this since environmentalists shy away from attacking a much ballyhooed Shangri-La of happiness.
Its first big hydropower project of 336 MW capacity at Chuka was commissioned in 1988. This was followed by Kurichhu (60MW) in 2001, Basochho (40MW) in 2005 and the giant Tala project (1,020 MW) in 2007, which largely explains the subsequent huge jump in GDP in 2008. Electricity revenue will provide no less than 60% of the government's entire revenue in 2009.Yet only 66% of Bhutanese households and 39% of its villages are electrified.
Developing countries with rich natural resources, like oil, often fare very badly. Economists talk of a "resource curse" that enables a kleptocratic ruling elite to become very rich without any productive effort or decent governance. Revenues from natural resources flow directly to governments, bypassing citizens.
So, Bhutan's greatest achievement is not its index of Gross National Happiness, but its apparent demonstration that happiness can flow from rapid GDP growth and large dams, overcoming problems like gender discrimination and low literacy.
source : realclearworld.com and nytimes.com
The Stiglitz report says that GDP is a poor measure of well-being, so countries should also measure quality-of-life indicators that make people happy, such as leisure, education, social relationships, political voice and governance. Happiness is, of course, much more than GDP. Yet Bhutan's dirty secret is that it is a world champion in GDP growth.
While household incomes in Bhutan remain among the world's lowest, life expectancy increased by 19 years from 1984 to 1998, jumping to 66 years. The country, which is preparing to shift to a constitution and an elected government, requires that at least 60 percent of its lands remain forested, welcomes a limited stream of wealthy tourists and exports hydropower to India.
Large dams are not usually regarded as sources of happiness. Environmentalists usually condemn them for displacing people and submerging forests. Bhutan's neat ploy has been to adopt a green name (Druk Green Power Corporation) for its hydropower producer. It gets away with this since environmentalists shy away from attacking a much ballyhooed Shangri-La of happiness.
Its first big hydropower project of 336 MW capacity at Chuka was commissioned in 1988. This was followed by Kurichhu (60MW) in 2001, Basochho (40MW) in 2005 and the giant Tala project (1,020 MW) in 2007, which largely explains the subsequent huge jump in GDP in 2008. Electricity revenue will provide no less than 60% of the government's entire revenue in 2009.Yet only 66% of Bhutanese households and 39% of its villages are electrified.
Developing countries with rich natural resources, like oil, often fare very badly. Economists talk of a "resource curse" that enables a kleptocratic ruling elite to become very rich without any productive effort or decent governance. Revenues from natural resources flow directly to governments, bypassing citizens.
So, Bhutan's greatest achievement is not its index of Gross National Happiness, but its apparent demonstration that happiness can flow from rapid GDP growth and large dams, overcoming problems like gender discrimination and low literacy.
source : realclearworld.com and nytimes.com
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