Project: Intelligent Search Project: Text Pilot Extractor
(TPE)
Test Subject: Economic Theory
Multilingual Citation Search Database
(MCSD)
Theory Paper Copy Comparison Text:
Text Title:
Policy White Paper Gross National
Happiness & Well-being Index GNH / GNW Index A New Socioeconomic Development
Policy Framework
Text Abstract:
The most important statement of
the U.S. political philosophy is that of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of
Independence. It states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain
unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness." Are current government policies making us happier or more
stressed? This white paper provides an analysis of the mental and emotional
health liabilities produced by the current socioeconomic system. It also
proposes several policy reforms to help address these liabilities.
Text Part 1:
The paper
summarizes the study in three sections: 1. Statement of the problem; 2. Root
cause analysis; 3. Recommendations. Note: While this white paper is written
for the United States government, the analysis and recommendations are
applicable to many other countries. 1. Statement of the Problem: Why choose
happiness as a subject for economic research? Mental and emotional
well-being of citizens improves their performance and broadens the
intellectual, physical and social resources of a nation. Our research has
found that happy people have better health habits, lower blood pressure,
stronger immune systems and higher endurance levels. They cause less stress
on the national healthcare system. Citizens with better emotional and mental
health are easier to relate to and work with, tend to be better decision
makers, are more creative, and outperform peers in problem-solving,
innovation, persistence and productivity. The current American socioeconomic
system does not help the mental and emotional health of its citizens.
According to the following independent research studies: The University of
Michigan's World Values Surveys (WVS) of 2004, ranks America at number 15 in
population happiness. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) study of 2006,
uncovered a different world order where USA ranks at the 150th place.
Regardless of what one thinks of various studies, and of their ranking
criteria, when it comes to happiness and mental well-being, the world’s
richest country (by GDP) does not make it into the top ten and further
studies suggest that it’s getting worse. Let's revisit the first question.
Are current government policies making us happier or more stressed? How many
Americans are taking antidepressants or using alcohol or other forms of
addictions as a way to cope with the pressures of the current socioeconomic
system? Is the number declining or on the rise? How many people have
lifestyles that are causing severe pressure on their psychological,
emotional and relationship health? How many people suffer from chronic
workplace stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, or some form of depression? Are
the rates of social conflicts or sources of stress such as divorce, crime
and lawsuits declining or on the rise? According to the American Journal of
Psychiatry, the rates of depression across almost all demographic groups
have risen in the United States over the past 10 years, with major
depression rising from 3.33 percent of U.S. adults in 1991-1992 to 7.06
percent in 2001-2002: In other words, it has more than doubled. There are no
available studies for 2005, but from our own research indicators, it appears
that it is getting worse. Doctors are now prescribing antidepressants to
children and adolescents more than ever. Depressed or not, if you live in
America, you are probably burdened with more stress than previous
generations (and other countries) 2. Root Cause Analysis The ideologies and
governments of this century that promised happiness, have left people with
more material possessions, but less psychological well-being. Many in our
society are emotionally bankrupt and unhappy. The demands of life in our
current socioeconomic system require that we keep running and running with
little or no breaks. With increasing life costs, rising taxes, economic
demands, and social and work pressures, far too many people are suffering
from chronic stress, anxiety or anger. The term "rat race" applies more
today than ever. Many people eventually experience this high-pressure
lifestyle as burnout, exhaustion and/or depression.
Text Part 2:
Many Americans are
feeling unhappy at home and at work. Our research shows that current studies
under-report the number of people who suffer from frequent states of
anxiety, depression, or stress. When asked, the surveyed subjects think that
prolonged or frequent high-levels of social, work or economic stress are
normal. Yet, they desire much more happiness in life. They simply, gave up
on "happiness" and settled for "survival". But, it does not have to be this
way. To be objective, it is not entirely the fault of the government. More
has changed in the last decade technologically, culturally, politically and
economically than the entire past century. The degree and speed of change
has posed enormous challenges for countries, organizations and their people.
We are all feeling the influence of these changes, whether it’s the global
competition, social re-engineering, political and military conflicts,
outsourcing or power shifts. Unprecedented globalization initiatives exert
an enormous pressure on the psyche of the average individual and family. In
many areas, those changes enriched people's lives, and in some areas, they
robbed people of their lifetime investments, whether it’s a retirement
account, career or a long-term relationship. And in some cases, those
changes literally stole their souls and their future. (Scientists: please
forgive the use of colorful words) To make things even more complex, most of
today’s young professionals are entering this changing world under-educated
and under-equipped to manage their own lives. While fluent in science,
business or arts, they lack critical-thinking competency and life-management
skills such as self-awareness (psychological and emotional), relationship
management (communications and people skills) and social awareness (their
social contract, rights and duties). Like their parents, most of the young
professionals will drift through life racing for the "American Dream", going
through very expensive trial-and-error lessons and struggling to achieve
happiness and fulfillment. 3. Recommendations This section of the paper
provides a list of strategic recommendations proposed by the International
Institute of Management to increase America’s Gross National Happiness
(GNH). The recommendations address six main public policy areas: Government,
Economics, Work, Media, Education and Environment. A) Government The role of
government should shift from managing economic growth to socioeconomic
development. American public policy should shift its focus from: The
standard of living to the quality of life Material possessions to well-being
(physical, mental, and material) Unsustainable economic development to
sustainable environmental development Consumerism to investment
Economic-driven education to socioeconomic-driven education
Text
Part 3:
The government
can also make substantial improvements by implementing the following
recommendations: Simplify people’s lives through reformed civil laws and
taxes. Establish new tax and budget policies in line with public mental,
emotional and physical wellness goals. For example, provide funding for the
promotion of positive psychology and cultural education in schools,
workplaces and public media. Shift policy priority from waging wars (a major
source of socioeconomic stress and long-term liability) to local
socioeconomic development and foreign collaboration. It is important to note
that the success or failure of any new initiative is dependent on the
sponsorship of the power centers within the socioeconomic system. The public
must drive Congress to provide additional reforms to ensure honest
representation by elected officials and by instituting controls on the abuse
of power such as the promotion of private interests on the expense of public
good, which is also a major source of socioeconomic stress. B) Economics In
1972 (Note: please see the "updates and corrections" section; Q6), Bhutan's
King Jigme Wangchuck coined the term Gross National Happiness (GNH) (in a
casual remark in a public policy conference) to emphasize the holistic
values of his government policies and Buddhist spiritual values. While
there has been no independent study to validate the success of Bhutan’s
national policies, Wangchuck correctly asserts that economic growth does not
necessarily lead to contentment. His philosophy is to focus instead on the
following four pillars: Economic self-reliance, A pristine environment, The
promotion of culture, and Good governance In the past 30 years, Bhutan saw
ad hoc policy initiatives, but without a specific measurement framework or
metric. Regardless of the King’s future success in formulating and executing
his national policies, the concept remains an admirable way to look at
modern policy making. (Note: please see the "corrections" section; [Q6 and
Q16] for the origin of the GNH phrase and the human rights violation as a
result of Bhutan's GNH pillars of culture preservation and "good"
governance). A new integrated qualitative and quantitative approach is
needed to assist in the creation of a new socioeconomic development model
to measure and monitor the development of the nation's most important asset
- its people. (Note: please see the "updates" section: [Q4] for the
limitations of earlier initiatives and the distinction of the proposed
solution in developing an alternative economic and metric system to the
traditional GDP economics model) A second-generation GNH concept (GNH 2.0)
treating happiness as a socioeconomic development metric is proposed by the
International Institute of Management. The Institute proposes to call it
Gross National Wellness or Wellbeing Index (GNW Index) or Gross National
Happiness Index (GNH Index), to credit the King of Bhutan for his inspiring
vision. (Note: please do not confuse Bhutan's GNH political mission
statement or concept (GNH 1.0) with IIM specific GNH / GNW econometric
model and index metric. IIM published the first GNH Index years before
Bhutan created and published their first local GNH Index. Please see
"updates" section: Q1 for clarifications) The metric measures the
socioeconomic development by tracking seven development areas, including the
nation's mental and emotional health.
Text Part 4:
The metric value is proposed to be an
index function of the total average per capita of the following subjective
and objective measures: Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct life
satisfaction survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics
such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of the number of
psychotherapy patients Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical
measurement of physical safety and health metrics such as severe and
chronic illnesses, disability, obesity and unnatural deaths. Workplace
Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor
metrics such as job income, purchasing power, jobless claims, job change,
workplace complaints and labor lawsuits Social Wellness: Indicated via
direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as
education quality and education levels per capita, discrimination, safety,
divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public
lawsuits, and crime rates Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and
statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, minimum
and average income to consumer price index ratio, income distribution,
disposal income available for retirement savings and investments.
Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical
measurement of living environmental metrics such as nature and
infrastructure quality including pollution, noise and traffic. Political
Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of
political metrics such as the quality of government such as local democracy,
individual freedom, domestic and foreign conflicts. The above seven
measurements were incorporated into the first Global GNH / GNW Index Survey
in 2005 While the proposed new GNW or GNH Index may not be all-inclusive or
provide perfect measures, the consideration of the above parameters is a
good start when creating a new metric for socioeconomic development and
policy management. The results of such survey help identify scientific
relations, correlations and cause-effect dynamics. The weight of each
dimension and sub-indicators can be customized to meet the current needs of
each society or country; however health and safety dimensions outweigh other
dimensions, except when a metric in another dimension influences the health
dimension. For example, the availability and quality of water and soil in
the environmental dimension may have direct impact on the health of the
citizens as we have seen in Africa's Malaria epidemic and US cancer-causing
asbestos-based manufacturing. The Institute has noticed an initial interest
in the promotion of a concept similar to the GNH Index in the western world.
According to Nadia Mustapha’s article in Time magazine, "The Strategy Unit,
an internal government think tank that reports to Prime Minister Tony Blair,
conducted a seminar on life satisfaction and its public policy
implications." Germany, Italy and France are also considering such studies."
While there is an increased political interest in GNH-similar initiatives,
there are no concrete proposals that offer an integrated multidimensional
framework to help implement and measure the performance new happiness
initiatives.
Text Part 5
The proposed GNH Index can serve as a starting point for such
efforts. (Note: Since 2005, several international initiatives were
influenced directly or indirectly by the proposed GNW Index solution in this
paper. Some of the initiatives updated their solutions to include
breakthrough design features of the GNW Index. Some cited the GNW Index,
other did not (despite the striking similarities). Please see the "updates"
section: [Q2 Q3, and Q4] for further information) C) Work Equal opportunity
is not truly equal until all U.S. populations have equal access to the same
quality of education and equitable development programs. Governments can
institute new employment laws to promote life and work balance and to
guarantee a healthy (mental and physical) work environment. Contrary to what
some managers think, this recommendation does not have to incur additional
costs or liabilities to their businesses, instead it will improve working
relationships and productivity and reduce employee turnover. A smart
corporate policy will ensure the development of its management team to
transform a dominating leadership style into a coaching leadership style
with better work and relationship ethics. D) Media Without controlling free
speech and the commercial rights of media owners, the government can fund
public broadcasting to produce more educational and awareness programs to
promote mental and emotional well-being, life management skills, and social
bonding. This can help change the public taste and demand for the type of
information and commercial media programs. E) Education: If one googles
“antidepressants”, the search yields about six million pages. The same
search for "depression prevention" yields less than 50 thousand. If one
googles "happiness education" the search yields less than 500 results! Even
when using different search phrases, the results are more focused on
treatment than prevention. Many mild to moderate depression cases can be
eliminated or at least greatly helped with personal life management and
happiness education. The Institute recommends that happiness education
starts in schools by providing basic social education in applied formats to
personal and relationship management including basic psychology,
self-awareness, leadership development, communication skills, conflict
resolution, and basic sociology (social contracts and civil duties). F)
Environment Institutionalize and enforce better policies to promote a
cleaner and safer environment. Example areas include city planning, art,
spaces, reduced pollution, noise, traffic, health, and so on. ::: What are
White Papers? White papers provide businesses and government leaders with a
list of questions, terminologies and discussion points that can be used to
address existing or emerging challenges and opportunities. Unlike academic
research papers, white papers are succinct advisory documents designed for
executive communication and problem-solving. The structure of the white
paper includes three main sections: 1). A statement of the problem or
opportunity 2). Analysis of root causes and driving forces 3). Proposed
solution and implementation best practices.
Text Source:
Gross
National Happiness (GNH) Index and Gross National Wellbeing (GNW Index)
Economic Archive Project
Text Search References and Citations Database Results:
Scholarly Citations Page >
Book References Page >
Research Papers Page,>
GNH Page >
Happiness Economics Page > Back to
home page