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February 2012 eBrief published

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

February 2012 eBrief published

Material anxiety‎

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Over the past five decades, the comparative charts of happiness vis-a-vis a country's per capita GDP show a staggering conclusion.

Can We Learn a Lesson From a Tiny Fishing Nation in the Middle of the Ocean?

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

In a withering 2009 Vanity Fair profile of the situation in Iceland, Michael Lewis described a bleak scene...

Being Happy: Social and Natural Factors Are More Important Than Money

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

And which nation's people are happiest?

Forget about GDP. The real question is are we happy?

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:26:22 +0100

Forget about GDP. The real question is are we happy?

In 1968 Bobby Kennedy stated "GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile”. In recent years there has been an explosion of activity around the world with organisations developing new and innovative ways of measuring progress.

This article from the Gazette looks at the most recent developments in the movement to look beyond economic indicators in measuring well-being. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has been one of the leaders in this movement with the Better Life Index, How's Life publication and Wikiprogress. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution whose goal is to make happiness a “development indicator.”

The OECD initiative and the UN resolution did not come out of the blue. In recent years, there has been increased recognition that public policies based on gross domestic product data alone are not serving people well. In 2008, even before the global economic meltdown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked three well-known economists – Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, both Nobel laureates, and Jean-Paul Fitoussi – to find a better way of measuring social and economic well-being than the usual standby, GDP.

Read the full article- Forget about GDP. The real question is are we happy?

Read more on progress and comprehensive indicators

Save the Children Report: A Life Free from Hunger- Tackling child malnutrition

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Save the Children Report: A Life Free from Hunger- Tackling child malnutrition

Nigeria: Rich Nation, Poor People

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

It is easy to misunderstand my position on the grim report of the National Bureau of Statistics on the deteriorating standards of living in Nigeria. I must therefore state it clearly that there is indeed unjustified abject poverty in Nigeria.

Asia-Pacific makes big gains against poverty, but slow to reduce hunger, child and maternal deaths

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The Asia-Pacific region has made big gains in reducing poverty and is moving fast towards other development goals, but still has high levels of hunger as well as child and maternal mortality, said a new report released here today.

Environmental factors must be included in GDP, say scientists

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Governments warned failing to account for externalities will make climate change harder to manage

Entrepreneur- Business can be a force for good‎

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

One speaker at a Queenstown entrepreneur conference this week will be talking about how business needs to be a force for good.

UNDP report calls for economic reform in post-Spring Arab world

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

If region's economic and social woes aren't competently dealt with, desired democratic transition in Arab world will fail, warns new report by UN Development Programme (UNDP)

Meghalaya to replicate Bhutan’s GNP model

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Meghalaya will replicate Bhutan’s model of Gross National Happiness as an index of the state’s well- being, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said.

Happiness first

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Money makes the world go round. But as the euro debt crisis grinds on and anti-austerity protests gain momentum across the continent,

Bhutan parliamentarians begin study tour of Arunachal‎

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Gross National Happiness or happiness interwoven with balanced economic development was a concept introduced by Bhutan's King in 1972, as an alternative to Gross Domestic Product, said Bhutan's National Assembly member Dupthob at the start of a four-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh as the leader of a five-member team.

Forget about GDP. The real question is: Are we happy?‎

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

If GDP data are hopeless at sorting out what is important about a traffic jam, they are even less capable of measuring happiness.

In Pursuit of Happiness

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The aspirational Indian argues that happiness is now within the reach of each one of us... provided we are not tight-fisted and give in to the urge to splurge

Happiest places on Earth: Pics

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Living in the midst of floods, wars and earthquakes, you wonder if the world is a happy place to live in. But it seems there are happy places throughout the world. Take a look.

Call for papers for Expert Meeting on Social Capital organised by Maastricht University, May 25-26th, 2012 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Call for papers for Expert Meeting on Social Capital organised by Maastricht University, May 25-26th, 2012 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

College Majors That Put Women on Equal Footing With Men

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The typical full-time female worker still earns about 81 cents for every dollar that her male counterpart earns.

Our Aging Prison Population: Should Criminals Die Free?

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

As the number of senior citizens locked behind bars skyrockets, cash-strapped states are unable to foot the growing health care bills.

Sen, the moral universalist

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The United States National Medal of Arts and Humanities awarded Monday to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen — the first non-American to be conferred the rare honour — speaks to the universalism of his contributions in economics and philosophy over the past five decades

Guangdong Releases Happiness Index Report

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Authorities in south China's Guangdong province have released the region's first official happiness index report, with the city of Guangzhou topping the list, followed by Dongguan and Zhuhai, the New Express Daily reports.

Zambia: Community Vital in Attaining MDGs - Katema

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Community participation will be the key to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Community Development, Mother and Child Health Minister Joseph Katema has said.

The cost of living across the globe

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Zurich has become the world’s most expensive city to live in, according to the latest Worldwide Cost of Living Survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit, our sister company.

Amartya Sen to receive US Humanities Medal from Obama

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

US president Barack Obama on Monday will award the National Medals of Arts and Humanities to Indian economist Amartya Sen who won his Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998 for his studies of the roots of poverty.

Be heard at the 56th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women on 1 March via Wikigender’s online discussion on how to empower rural women - starting today!

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Be heard at the 56th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women on 1 March via Wikigender’s online discussion on how to empower rural women - starting today!

High hopes for the happiness index

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The announcement by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration last week that it would create a national happiness index and make Taiwanese wealthier marks an important task for the Cabinet led by Premier Sean Chen (陳冲).

Government can't make us happy‎

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson called the pursuit of happiness an unalienable right.

The happiness index- Measuring what matters may be a better way to gauge economic well-being

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

With bated breath, the world’s markets recently waited for the announcement of the U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth rate – a potential bellwether for the global economy. It turned out to be 2.8 percent.

We need to rethink the idea of national wealth and work for a sustainable future together, says UN Secretary-General

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Ban Ki-moon warns Earth will run out of sustainable resources

UNDP- World Human Development to Drop by 2050

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The current environmental scenarios suggest that by 2050 human development index will have a considerable reduction, said Barbara Pesce-Monteiro, permanent representative in Cuba of the UN Program for Development.

Measuring Happiness‎

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The country will begin quantifying GNH by measuring what GDP leaves out, such as its natural wealth including human, social and culture ones like GDP does ...

Underemployment 21% or Higher in Five States in 2011

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Lowest underemployment rates were in North and South Dakota

The dark side of Germany's jobs miracle

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Anja has been scrubbing floors and washing dishes for two euros an hour over the past six years. She is bewildered when she sees newspapers hailing Germany's "job miracle."

UNDP release: Caribbean Human Development Report 2012

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

UNDP release: Caribbean Human Development Report 2012

The City 2.0 -- Evolved -Not Made- By Ecological Humans

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Despite its promises, this government can't make you happy. In times of austerity, you are on your own

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

The happiness agenda is just a way of making huge social problems seem personal.

Social Networking debate

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

This house believes that society benefits when we share personal information online.

What really makes people happy?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson called the pursuit of happiness an unalienable right. This was a radical idea. For most of history, most people didn’t think much about pursuing happiness. They were too busy just trying to survive. Read more:

Taiwan to introduce well-being, happiness index

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

Taiwan will establish an index of well-being and release the results as early as next year, according to the Cabinet-level Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Feb 6.

China Plans Unified Survey to Gauge Wealth Gap

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

China will carry out a comprehensive survey of urban and rural salaries that may help better gauge its income gap, the China Daily reported today, citing Xie Hongguang, a deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics.

Whose Development Is It Anyway? From Economic to Human and Sustainable Development

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

‎ The United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) further expand the concept of human development

Engaged Workers Immune to Stress From Long Commutes

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100

For disengaged workers, long commutes linked to higher stress levels.

Economic Hypochondria Down Under