A radically different yardstick of progress and development

How does money relate to society’s concepts of happiness and well-being, and to what extent do public policies and the economic system support this relationship? Next month we’ll be exploring in depth the links between happiness, well-being and material wealth, and how economics impinges upon them, in our short course The Economics of Happiness (February 2010)

All the evidence shows that beyond the sort of standard of living which Britain has now achieved, extra growth does not automatically translate into human welfare and happiness… If you spend your time thinking that the most important objective of public policy is to get growth up from 1.9% to 2% and even better 2.1% we’re pursuing a sort of false god.

This is not a quote from one of our visiting teachers, but from Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) (The Guardian, 1 January 2010). Could this indicate that our society is now poised to review its values and focus some attention towards an economics of happiness?
Among the line-up of esteemed teachers for this course are Dr Tim Kasser (Knox University), Dasho Karma Ura (Centre for Bhutan Studies) Dr Per Espen Stoknes (BI Norwegian School of Management) and Andrew Simms (nef Policy Director).

We need, in this new century, a radically different yardstick of progress and development, to measure what matters most: well-being and happiness. We need to adopt well-being and collective happiness as the orienting principles of our governance….Through GNH [gross national happiness], we have to generate the social heartbeat of the community… Dasho Karma Ura, teaching on The Economics of Happiness next month at Schumacher College.

Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.