Gross National Unhappiness

Three weeks ago I mentioned the three keys to happiness (see below).  Happiness is a subject I address in my book in several places, using in one of those the example of the country of Bhutan that inaugurated Gross National Happiness 40 years ago as a measure of the welfare of the country. 

This week U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, acknowledged the grinding pressure of a weak recovery on the happiness of our own citizens when he said, “We should seek better and more-direct measurements of economic well-being.”  Further he said this is the “ultimate objective of our policy decisions.”  Persistently weak Gross Domestic Product and employment figures give new meaning to Bernanke’s “dismal science.”  As our chief economist he should pause to consider even more our gross national unhappiness.