U.N. to Create Gross National Happiness?
Should happiness figure in a nation's bottom line? And should the concept of Gross National Product be replaced by Gross National Happiness? - Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley told a high-level U.N. meeting Monday that it not only should but that it must if mankind is to avoid its current unsustainable and self-destructive course. Bhutan, the tiny Himalayan nation which tops Asia in the United Nations' First World Happiness Report, convened the meeting seeking to develop a new economic model based on principles of happiness and well being. Although wealthy nations like Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands lead the rankings of happiest countries while poor nations like Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone ranked among the least happy, the report noted that social factors such as the strength of social support, the absence of corruption and the degree of personal freedom were more important than wealth.