GNH

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) defines Gross National Product or GNP as "a measure of the country's output of final goods and services for an accounting period in terms of its market or purchaser's value. When valued at constant base year pesos, GNP at constant base year prices provides an overall index of the physical volume of goods and services produced by the economy over the period."

In simpler terms, GNP is a measure of how good a country's economic performance is in terms of income and production or output. In the case of the Philippines, our GNP in 2008 was T 8,250, 249 Php , what does this value tell us? Clearly GNP is only limited to the country's final output and income, it does not show how income is distributed and how it affects every individual's well-being or quality of life. It is not a reliable indicator of true progress, even economists recognize this fact. It is not an assurance that people are actually better off in a certain country if it attained a high GNP value.

Recognizing this fact and that GNP should be channeled towards happiness, the 4th King of Bhutan (in 1972) came up with the concept of Gross National Happiness or GNH making him the author of the exact phrase. Traditional indicators tend to focus on the material sense of a country's economy valued in monetary terms since this is perhaps the most objective way of measuring performance. GNH, though quite subjective and even an ideal concept, focuses on what the traditional indicators failed to measure; this includes culture, psychological well-being, education, good governance, etc.

If we apply this concept to the Philippines, would our GNH be positive? We'll probably have a positive value as recent surveys show that we're one of the happiest people on earth. It's quite clear to us that money can't buy happiness. Even in the midst of material poverty, we can still be happy. I guess we don't have much choice but to be happy. In a culture where the word "government" is almost synonymous to corruption, inefficiency, and rottenness, happiness can still be seen in fiestas and gimmicks, in the very simplicity of celebrating life. Isn't real poverty all about being unwanted? That you may have all your material wants but still lack the feeling of being liked or even loved. We all have to deal with life's great "trade-offs". One economic principle puts it, "the cost of something is what you give up to get it."

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