Commission Calls for New Economic Yardstick

More on Bhutan's Gross National Happiness index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness

If only we could all be as happy as the landlocked Himalayan theocratic monarchy existing in a long-term self-imposed isolationism!

Being politically cynical, and knowing France's reputation for a kind of paternalistic dirigisme, this kind of conclusion seems to be a blanket justification for government intervention.

The article decries government obsession with pumping up GDP metrics. But their solution is not to take a step toward laissez-faire, but simply to substitute another metric in GDP's place. The problem of gaming metrics in order to make it look like politicians are 'doing something' remains unchanged.

The article includes this quote from the report: "developing countries may be encouraged to allow a foreign mining company to develop a mine, even though the country receives low royalties, even though the environment may be degraded, and even though miners may be exposed to health hazards." This isn't about 'societal welfare' so much as it is about economic nationalism. Manifestations of economic nationalism aren't uncommon for periods of global recession. The only new aspect here is the 'social' window dressing it's being given.

the problem with an index like this is, that no matter how much you try to quantitatively measure happiness, "societal welfare" remains extremely subjective. put another way, whose definition of societal welfare are we using?

like it or not, GDP remains a very quantifiable and objective number.