Gross National Happiness ...
               "Happiness is Sensible"

Most countries and their economists gauge development in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), which is the sum of all goods and services produced in the country over a given time period. Technically, they would consider the sale of both, a gun and a greasy hamburger, as ‘good’ as they both contribute to the plus side of the ledger.

In Bhutan, we realize this anomaly. As the writer, Eric Weiner, points out, “GDP measures the size of the pie, not the quality of the ingredients – fresh apples or rotten ones are counted the same… Yet we continue to track this quarterly statistic as if nothing else matters. ”
Even at the risk of being considered an economist’s nightmare, in Bhutan we measure progress using a different, home-grown metric called Gross National Happiness. GNH recognizes that happiness or “general well being,” not merely material wealth, should the ultimate goal of development. The world’s most developed economies are far richer today than they were 50 years ago but their people aren’t any happier. Yet governments, international agencies and academia remain indifferent to happiness, dismissing it as a utopian issue. Much is known about the income disparities between nations and social groups but little is known about the happiness gap between them.

 GNH, which is the brainchild of His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, looks beyond conventional economic statistics to address cultural, ecological and spiritual concerns as well. It therefore reflects Bhutanese values and interests. Make no mistake; the Bhutanese love money as much as anybody else, but not at the cost of depleting irreparably their natural and cultural resources.

Take the tourism policy, for example. Bhutan deliberately limits the amount of tourist dollars it earns by restricting the number of tourists visiting the country. That explains the high tourist tariff of US $ 200 a day. That also explains why Bhutanese cultural practices and customs still thrive, unhindered by the monocultural tide of globalization that overwhelms most of the developing world today.

For a small country that has less than a million people, little economic or military strength, and is geographically wedged between the world’s two most populous countries, a strong culture makes a lot of sense – it gives the Bhutanese a unique identity and so asserts their sovereignty. GNH ensures their existence, let alone their happiness.