GDP and Gross National Happiness

GDP and social wellbeing

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final
goods and services produced in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is most
often used by the government of a single country to measure its economic health.

GDP is often used as a metric for international comparisons as well as a broad measure of
economic progress. It is often considered to be the world's most powerful statistical
indicator of national development and progress. However, critics of the growth
imperative often argue that GDP measures were never intended to measure progress.
Scholars use other measures of success or alternative indicators such as the OECD's Better
Life Index as better approaches to measuring the effect of the economy on human
development and wellbeing.

GDP per capita is often used as an indicator of living standards. GDP does not include several
factors that influence the standard of living. Some of these factors are given below.

● Externalities such as pollution

● Non-market transactions such as Bartering of good and services, volunteer or unpaid
work
● Non-monetary economy such as informal business transactions, services
● Quality improvement
● Sustainability of growth
● Wealth distribution such as income inequality

Many scholars have pointed out limitations of using GDP as the overarching measure of
economic and social progress. For example, many environmentalists argue that GDP is a
poor measure of social progress because it does not take into account harm to
the environment. Furthermore, the GDP does not consider human health nor the
educational aspect of a population.

Although a high or rising level of GDP is often associated with increased economic and social
progress, the opposite sometimes occurs. For example, Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen have
pointed out that an increase in GDP or in GDP growth does not necessarily lead to a higher
standard of living, particularly in areas such as healthcare and education. Another important
area that does not necessarily improve along with GDP is political liberty, which is most
notable in China, where GDP growth is strong yet political liberties are heavily
restricted. GDP does not account for the distribution of income among the residents of a
country, because GDP is primarily an aggregate measure. An economy may be highly
developed or growing rapidly, but also contain a wide gap between the rich and the poor in
a society. These inequalities often occur on the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or
other minority status within countries.

Gross National Happiness (GNH) and social wellbeing

Gross national happiness (GNH) is a measure of economic and moral progress that the king
of the Himalayan country of Bhutan introduced in the 1970s as an alternative to gross
domestic product. Rather than focusing strictly on quantitative economic measures, gross
national happiness takes into account an evolving mix of quality-of-life factors. It includes an
index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population.
Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in
the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008.

According to King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, “gross national happiness is more important
than gross national product.” Since then, the GNH has evolved into a somewhat scientific
measure of the once-isolated kingdom's economic and moral development.

In 1998, the government of Bhutan established the Centre for Bhutan Studies and Gross
National Happiness (CBSGNH) to conduct research on the topic, to help build its public policy
decisions. Bhutan could then share this framework with the outside world.

The GNH Center in Bumthang developed four pillars of GNH. These are good
governance, sustainable development, preservation and promotion of culture, and
environmental conservation. The 2008 constitution dictates that lawmakers must take each
into account when considering new legislation.
These pillars provide the foundation for the happiness, which is manifest in the nine
domains of GNH: psychological well-being, standard of living, good governance, health,
community vitality, cultural diversity, time use, and ecological resilience.

The 2012 GNH Index Report

The CBSGNH published an official report of its research into GNH in 2012. The report draws
upon data collected and refined in pre-surveys in 2006 and 2008, then a formal survey in
2010. In this report, the centre provides an overview of national performance across the
nine domains described above. Each domain is weighted equally, but the indicators that go
toward each domain’s rating are scaled according to the subjectivity of that indicator.

The research allows for so many components and domains of happiness because it operates
on the assumption that happiness is a multidimensional concern. True contentment follows
from the sense that others are happy, not just the self. In Bhutan, the pursuit of happiness is
a collective one, though a significant portion of the sentiment comes from within. The
nine-domain structure of GNH attempts to capture that multidimensional pursuit.

The term "Gross National Happiness" as conceptualized by the 4th King of Bhutan, Jigme
Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 was declared as, "more important than Gross Domestic
Product." The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach
towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of
wellbeing.

In 2011, The UN General Assembly passed resolution, "Happiness: towards a holistic

approach to development", urging member nations to follow the example of Bhutan and
measure happiness and well-being and calling happiness a "fundamental human goal”.

GNH is distinguishable from Gross Domestic Product by valuing collective happiness as the
goal of governance, by emphasizing harmony with nature and traditional values as
expressed in the 9 domains of happiness and 4 pillars of GNH.

Bhutanese GNH index

Several scholars have noted that "the values underlying the individual pillars of GNH are
defined as distinctly Buddhist," and "GNH constructs Buddhism as the core of the cultural
values of the country (of Bhutan). They provide the foundation upon which the GNH
rests.” GNH is thus seen as part of the Buddhist Middle Way, where "happiness is accrued
from a balanced act rather than from an extreme approach."

Implementation in Bhutan

Gross National Happiness Commission, implements GNH in Bhutan. The GNH Index is used
to measure the happiness and well-being of Bhutan's population. The GNH Screening tools
are used by the Bhutanese GNH Commission for anticipating the impact of policy initiatives
upon the levels of GNH in Bhutan.

In 2008, the first Bhutanese GNH survey was conducted. It was followed by a second one in
2010. The third nationwide survey was conducted in 2015. The GNH survey covers all twenty
districts (Dzonkhag) and results are reported for varying demographic factors such as gender,
age, abode, and occupation. The first GNH surveys consisted of long questionnaires that
polled the citizens about living conditions and religious behaviour, including questions about
the times a person prayed in a day and other karma indicators. It took several hours to
complete one questionnaire. Later rounds of the GNH Index were shortened, but the survey
retained the religious behavioural indicators.

The Bhutan GNH Index was developed by the Centre for Bhutan Studies with the help of
Oxford University researchers to help measure the progress of Bhutanese society. After the
creation of the GNH Index, the government used the metric to measure national progress
and inform policy.

The Bhutan GNH Index is considered to measure societal progress similar to other models
such as the OECD Better Life Index of 2011, and SPI Social Progress Index of 2013. One
feature distinguishing Bhutan's GNH Index from the other models is that the other models
are designed for secular governments and do not include religious behaviour measurement
components. The data is used to compare happiness among different groups of citizens, and
changes over time. According to the World Happiness Report 2019, Bhutan is 95th out of
156 countries.

The GNH Index classifies each person into one of four groups depending
on the share of weighted indicators in which they enjoy sufficiency:
Deeply happy (77% to 100%), Extensively happy (66% to 76.9%), Narrowly
happy (50% to 65.9%) and Unhappy (0% to 49.9%). In 2022, 9.5% of the
population is deeply happy, 38.6% extensively happy, 45.5% narrowly
happy, and 6.4% unhappy.

The holistic consideration of multiple factors through the GNH approach has been cited as
impacting Bhutan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. GNH has been described by critics
as a propaganda tool used by the Bhutanese government to distract from ethnic
cleansing and human rights abuses it has committed.

The Bhutanese democratic government started from 2008. Before that, the government
practiced massive ethnic cleansing of the non-Buddhist population of ethnic Nepalese of
Hindu faith in the name of GNH cultural preservation. The NGO Human Rights Watch
documented the events. According to Human Rights Watch, "Over 100,000 or 1/6 of the
population of Bhutan of Nepalese origin and Hindu faith were expelled from the country
because they would not integrate with Bhutan's Buddhist culture.” The Refugee Council of
Australia stated that "it is extraordinary and shocking that a nation can get away with
expelling one sixth of its people and somehow keep its international reputation largely
intact. The Government of Bhutan should be known not for Gross National Happiness but for
Gross National Hypocrisy.”

Some researchers state that Bhutan's GNH philosophy "has evolved over the last decade
through the contribution of western and local scholars to a version that is
more democratic and open. Therefore, probably, the more accurate historical reference is to
mention the coining of the GNH phrase as a key event, but not the Bhutan GNH philosophy,
because the philosophy as understood by western scholars is different from the philosophy
used by the King at the time.” Other viewpoints are that GNH is a process of development
and learning, rather than an objective norm or absolute end point. Bhutan aspires to
enhance the happiness of its people and GNH serves as a measurement tool for realizing
that aspiration.

According to the latest GNH report published in May 2023, a whopping 93.6 % of the
Bhutanese population considers itself happy (Ura et al. 2023).

According to World Bank data the high Gini index indicates rather big differences in income
within the population. The data shows that Bhutan is among the richest by gross domestic
product per capita in South Asia, at around USD 3,300 as of 2021. Still, Bhutan ranks 140th in
the world, and is among the poorest in the world. Especially poor are the people living in
rural areas: 90 % of the poor Bhutanese live in the countryside.

In Bhutan, the concept of happiness is strongly related to the beliefs of Buddhism. You need
to be kind to yourself first and this leads to compassion to others.

According to Rinpoche, one of Bhutan’s youngest ever spiritual masters, you must love
yourself and truly know, that no matter the circumstance, you are good enough. From there,
you can spread that [compassion] to others.

Further, When something goes wrong Bhutanese people won’t become depressed
immediately because things will change…. By accepting that all things are impermanent, it
means that there can be change, and with change there is hope.

Impermanence is another Buddhist concept that is strong in Bhutanese culture (Zubiri 2021).