Gross National Happiness

Gross National Happiness

Author: Arthur C. Brooks

Publisher:

Published: 2008-04-22

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13:

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The author analyzes evidence and empirical research to determine which groups are the happiest in America; and offers suggestions on how the government can help individuals maximize their happiness.


Politics of Gross National Happiness

Politics of Gross National Happiness

Author: Kent Schroeder

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 3319653881

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This book explores the practices of governance in Bhutan and how they shape the implementation of the country’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) development strategy. The author examines whether Bhutan’s innovative GNH governance framework successfully navigates competing power dynamics and generates the intended human development outcomes of Gross National Happiness. The analysis is structured around a comparison of the implementation of four GNH development policies – tourism, media, farm roads and human/wildlife conflict – and their larger implications on power, governance and the human development paradigm in Bhutan and beyond.


Education in Bhutan

Education in Bhutan

Author: Matthew J. Schuelka

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-09-16

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9811016496

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Bhutan is a country in the Himalayas with a relatively new education system and a unique governmental philosophy known as Gross National Happiness. This book explores the history, culture, challenges, and opportunities of schooling in Bhutan. It discusses topics including historical perspectives on Buddhist monastic education, the regional and international influence on educational development, traditional medical education, higher education, and the evolution of Bhutanese educational policy, to name but a few. It also investigates contemporary challenges to schooling in Bhutan such as adult education, inclusive education, early childhood education, rurality, and gender. Throughout the book, the developmental philosophy of Gross National Happiness is explored as a novel and culturally vital approach to education in Bhutan. The majority of the authors are prominent Bhutanese scholars and educational leaders, with select non-Bhutanese international scholars with strong links to Bhutan also contributing. This book is a valuable resource not only for those specifically interested in education in Bhutan, but for anyone with an interest in South Asian studies, general Asian studies, educational development, comparative education, Buddhist education, and the Gross National Happiness development philosophy.


Who Really Cares

Who Really Cares

Author: Arthur C. Brooks

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2007-12-04

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0465003656

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We all know we should give to charity, but who really does? In his controversial study of America's giving habits, Arthur C. Brooks shatters stereotypes about charity in America-including the myth that the political Left is more compassionate than the Right. Brooks, a preeminent public policy expert, spent years researching giving trends in America, and even he was surprised by what he found. In Who Really Cares, he identifies the forces behind American charity: strong families, church attendance, earning one's own income (as opposed to receiving welfare), and the belief that individuals-not government-offer the best solution to social ills. But beyond just showing us who the givers and non-givers in America really are today, Brooks shows that giving is crucial to our economic prosperity, as well as to our happiness, health, and our ability to govern ourselves as a free people.


Gross National Happiness and Macroeconomic Indicators in the Kingdom of Bhutan

Gross National Happiness and Macroeconomic Indicators in the Kingdom of Bhutan

Author: Sriram Balasubramanian

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-01-17

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1484389719

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This paper examines the origins and use of the concept of Gross National Happiness (or subjective well-being) in the Kingdom of Bhutan, and the relationship between measured well-being and macroeconomic indicators. While there are only a few national surveys of Gross National Happiness in Bhutan, the concept has been used to guide public policymaking for the country’s various Five-Year Plans. Consistent with the Easterlin Paradox, available evidence indicates that Bhutan’s rapid increase in national income is only weakly associated with increases in measured levels of well-being. It will be important for Bhutan to undertake more frequent Gross National Happiness surveys and evaluations, to better build evidence for comovement of well-being and macroeconomic concepts such as real national income.


The Nordic Theory of Everything

The Nordic Theory of Everything

Author: Anu Partanen

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2016-06-28

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0062316567

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A Finnish journalist, now a naturalized American citizen, asks Americans to draw on elements of the Nordic way of life to nurture a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society for themselves and their children Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life—from buying a cell phone and filing taxes to education and childcare—was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first, she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered they shared her deep apprehension. To understand why life is so different in the U.S. and Finland, Partanen began to look closely at both. In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen compares and contrasts life in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships—parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist “nanny states,” revealing instead that it is we Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. As Partanen explains step by step, the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and independence than we do. Partanen wants to open Americans’ eyes to how much better things can be—to show her beloved new country what it can learn from her homeland to reinvigorate and fulfill the promise of the American dream—to provide the opportunity to live a healthy, safe, economically secure, upwardly mobile life for everyone. Offering insights, advice, and solutions, The Nordic Theory of Everything makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild our society, rekindle our optimism, and restore true freedom to our relationships and lives.


A Culture of Happiness

A Culture of Happiness

Author: Tho Ha Vinh

Publisher: Parallax Press

Published: 2022-09-27

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1952692326

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Practical principles for creating conditions for happiness at scale from the program director of the Gross National Happiness Center of Bhutan, the only country in the world to measure progress by the happiness of its citizens. Despite countless happiness programs focused on individual well-being, are we any happier, really? Is it in fact possible to be fully happy within a miserably dysfunctional society built to keep structures of inequity in place? Possible, perhaps, but not easy. While the pursuit of happiness is a much-celebrated ideal, how can countries and communities design the right environments for people to lead happy lives? Personal programs for happiness that include mindfulness, empathy, and gratitude are a good start, but without structural changes, they can only go so far. Taking the case of the country of Bhutan as an example, the nation's first Gross National Happiness program director Tho Ha Vinh explains how the principles of happiness can and must apply to people, families, and communities at scale to produce the conditions for a truly satisfying life. More and more people feel that we live in a time of transition and that our very survival on this planet depends on renewing the way we live together in society. Gross National Happiness is an innovative development paradigm that puts the interconnected happiness of all people and the well-being of all life forms at the center of progress. Based on real-life experiences, this book shows a multitude of practical methods for strategic thinkers and change makers to apply the framework of Gross National Happiness to bring about positive change in schools, businesses, and communities.