Economy: Don't worry, be happy

The World Bank is looking to promote GNH - Gross National Happiness, to measure a country's wealth. The idea is based on Bhutan’s concept of gross national happiness.

Graeme Wheeler, managing director of the World Bank, was quoted by Bhutan’s newspaper Kuensel, as saying "Bhutan has been translating this philosophy into action on the ground. It has been practicing what other countries need to do. We need to extend the concept of gross national happiness to gross international happiness".

The Himalayan Times reports, "Bhutan, is ranked near the bottom of the world’s development scale and came up with a unique way to measure the country’s wealth in terms of the happiness of its citizens.

Instead of attaining a higher GDP, the official goal is GNH - a policy decreed by former ruler Jigme Singye Wangchuck to try and reflect true quality of life in a more holistic way".