Growth in a Buddhist Economy
Published in Books and Articles, Case Studies on August 26, 2010
Very interesting reflection by Jeffrey Sachs on Bhutan’s take on growth, inspiring example of a search for equilibrium with sustainable values it seems…
‘In Bhutan, the economic challenge is not growth in gross national product, but in gross national happiness (GNH). I went to Bhutan to understand better how GNH is being applied. There is no formula, but, befitting the seriousness of the challenge and Bhutan’s deep tradition of Buddhist reflection, there is an active and important process of national deliberation. Therein lies the inspiration for all of us.’
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/sachs169/English
What do you think?
Certainly this bit resonates
‘Everybody knows how American-style hyper-consumerism can destabilize social relations and lead to aggressiveness, loneliness, greed, and over-work to the point of exhaustion. What is perhaps less recognized is how those trends have accelerated in the United States itself in recent decades. This may be the result of, among other things, the increasing and now relentless onslaught of advertising and public relations. The question of how to guide an economy to produce sustainable happiness – combining material well-being with human health, environmental conservation, and psychological and cultural resiliency – is one that needs addressing everywhere.’
“Bhutan has embarked on such a serious journey. The rest of the world’s economies should do the same.”
Feel free to share your experiences/thoughts/dreams/ideas 
Well, the question of transferability of good practices arises. Bhutan is a very (I mean: very!) small economy, with overwhelming Buddhist population, which makes this country to a considerable extent peculiar. It is hardly a benchmark for the rest of the world, although I don’t want to claim that none of their solutions is implementable elsewhere. However, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that even in terms of HDI (which, as you know, is not a purely economic index) Bhutan ranks 132nd in the world. Therefore, I would be cautious when deriving any far-reaching implications from what the author wrote. He might just share his impressions, but it is all to be confronted with facts and figures.
Mr. Sachs is certainly an incredibly noble and influential economist, but he is also known for its tendency to, let’s say, ‘uniformization’ (e.g., at the turn of 80s’ and 90s’ he proposed virtually the same measures to tackle the crises to be taken in Bolivia and Poland, not really taking into account the fundamental differences between these two economies), which – as it is in this case – is a bit too utopian proposition.