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.

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.

This work is a large, powerfully illustrated interdisciplinary natural sciences volume, the first of its kind to examine the critically important nature of ecological paradox, through an abundance of lenses: the biological sciences, taxonomy, archaeology, geopolitical history, comparative ethics, literature, philosophy, the history of science, human geography, population ecology, epistemology, anthropology, demographics, and futurism. The ecological paradox suggests that the human biological–and from an insular perspective, successful–struggle to exist has come at the price of isolating H. sapiens from life-sustaining ecosystem services, and far too much of the biodiversity with which we find ourselves at crisis-level odds. It is a paradox dating back thousands of years, implicating millennia of human machinations that have been utterly ruinous to biological baselines. Those metrics are examined from numerous multidisciplinary approaches in this thoroughly original work, which aids readers, particularly natural history students, who aspire to grasp the far-reaching dimensions of the Anthropocene, as it affects every facet of human experience, past, present and future, and the rest of planetary sentience. With a Preface by Dr. Gerald Wayne Clough, former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and President Emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Foreword by Robert Gillespie, President of the non-profit, Population Communication.

This book contains contributions from diverse perspectives and traditions that focus on reflections and happiness practices. It addresses diversity in happiness and eastern and western thoughts and practices by contributing authors from around the world from varied backgrounds. The book provides ample avenue for readers and researchers to broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding of various aspects of happiness culturally and conceptually. It opens opportunities for exploring and understanding how happiness can be practiced, experienced, taught, and learned in various contexts, thus assisting both educators and interested readers to create opportunities for themselves or their students to engage in diverse and creative happiness explorations. This book is a crucial resource for teachers, educators, students, and researchers involved in the science and practice of happiness. It enables them to find new avenues to understand happiness from different perspectives, understanding inner and outer spaces and other dimensions of happiness. It serves as an essential reference for academicians in related fields of psychology, such as cross-cultural, social, and developmental, as well as in the upcoming field of happiness studies.

Do numbers have a life of their own or do we give them meaning? How do data play a role in constructing people's perceptions of the world around them? How far can we trust numbers to speak truth to power? The COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique moment to answer these questions. This book examines how politicians, experts and journalists gave meaning to data through the story of seven iconic numbers from the pandemic.Shedding light on a new dawn of data, this book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the relationship between numbers, meaning and society.

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.

India was an economic power to reckon with until its economic decline in the 18th century. What explains this long period of prosperity? The answer might lie in a framework of social and economic thought that lies buried in our ancient heritage, says Sriram Balasubramanian, of which Kautilya's Arthashastra is a major example. Kautilyanomics for Modern Times seeks to do three things-first, to provide a structure and a context for Kautilya's economic thoughts; second, to examine his work's relevance today; and third, to do it in a way that a lay reader can follow and grasp easily. Kautilya's thought is mainly articulated through the prism of dharmic capitalism and its components-some examples include his views on global economic outlook, state-market dynamics, and sustainable growth through observance of environmental, societal and familial responsibilities. Fathoming India's rich economic and philosophical heritage and making use of it, Balasubramanian argues, would prove to be a great asset in India's/the country's/the nation's ascent again.

The Government of Sierra Leone’s new Medium-term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2019–2023 has been founded on a strong political commitment to deliver devel-opment results that would improve the welfare of Sierra Leone’s citizens. The plan charts a clear path towards 2023 en route to the goal of achieving middle-income status by 2039 through inclusive growth that is sustainable and leaves no one behind. For the next five years, the Free Quality School Education Programme is the government’s flagship programme to provide a solid base to enhance human capital development and to facilitate the transformation of the economy.

In The Pursuit of Happiness, renowned economist Carol Graham explores what we know about the determinants of happiness and clearly presents both the promise and the potential pitfalls of injecting the "economics of happiness" into public policymaking. While the book spotlights the innovative contributions of happiness research to the dismal science, it also raises a cautionary note about the issues that still need to be addressed before policymakers can make best use of them.

Schnaiberg's concept of the treadmill of production is arguably the most visible and enduring theory to emerge in three decades of environmental sociology. Elaborated and tested, it has been found to be an accurate predictor of political-economic changes in the global economy. In the global South, it has figures prominently in the work of structural environmental analysts and has been used by many political-economic movements. Building new extensions and applications of the treadmill theory, this new book shows how and why northern analysts and governments have failed to protect our environment and secure our future. Using an empirically based political-economic perspective, the authors outline the causes of environmental degradation, the limits of environmental protection policies, and the failures of institutional decision-makers to protect human well-being.