Towards an Economics of Happiness

In: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Operationalization of Gross National Happiness. Thimphu, Centre for Bhutan Studies 2004, pp. 77-104 . ISBN 99936-14-22-X

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Abstract

The authors have studied the effects of global economic development on individuals and cultures for the last three decades and have concluded that the most strategic and effective way of building a more positive future is through economic localisation. Fundamentally, localisation is about decentralising economic activity – producing for people's needs in a way that can been adapted to the ecological, cultural and political structures and needs of each locale. The paper is focused mainly on the disastrous impacts of the global economy on food and agriculture around the world. Adequate, wholesome food is vital to human well-being. There is nothing else that human beings produce that is needed by every person on the planet every day, yet that very activity has been relegated to a marginal position in political governance. Most businesses and governments consider agriculture little more than a stumbling block to success in their international trade negotiations. In fact, it is large-scale monocultural farms producing food for export that are inefficient. This industrial model of production is responsible for dramatic increases in environmental pollution, species extinction and even many human degenerative diseases, and only seems 'efficient' because so many of the costly subsidies that support it are hidden from view. Before examining the consequences of the global food system, the authors look at another subject equally worthy of attention: the social costs of globalisation, and the consumer monoculture it promotes. Social cohesion or a sense of community is fundamental to human well-being, indeed to human happiness. As we shall see, globalisation has done much to fragment community and erode people’s sense of self-esteem. Rebuilding or maintaining community is inextricably connected to a process of localisation. Many people around the world have looked to the King's aspiration to foster Gross National Happiness in Bhutan for hope and inspiration. In terms of shifting direction towards a more positive future, Bhutan is in an ideal position. Neither farming nor the fabric of community has been destroyed in Bhutan as it has in other parts of the world. There is a vital opportunity to strengthen the structures that support community and local economies in the country, thus averting the social, ecological and economic collapse globalisation has brought about elsewhere.