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Asia Sentinel

Happiness and Bhutan

John Berthelsen's avatar
John Berthelsen
Feb 26, 2011
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It is not clear just when Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of Bhutan, came up with the idea of substituting a Gross National Happiness Index instead of the more common gross domestic product to measure social, economic and political changes in his isolated Himalayan Shangri-la.

But substitute he did. The index was inaugurated and launched by the c…

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