The UN Embraces the Economics of Happiness

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:



The UN Embraces the Economics of Happiness
Leaders from around the world want well-being—not gross national product—to guide our economic decisions.

by Laura Musikanski
posted Apr 12, 2012


Imagine you open the paper tomorrow, and the headlines are not about the “sluggish economy,” but our nation’s quality of life. You turn to the business section, and find not just information about a certain company’s profitability, but also about its impact on community health and employee well-being.

Imagine, in short, a world where the metric that guides our decisions is not money, but happiness.

That is the future that 650 political, academic, and civic leaders from around the world came together to promote on April 2, 2012. Encouraged by the government of Bhutan, the United Nations held a High Level Meeting for Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm. The meeting marks the launch of a global movement to shift our focus away from measuring and promoting economic growth as a goal in its own right, and toward the goal of measuring—and increasing—human happiness and quality of life. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-un-embraces-the-economics-of-happiness