If Money Doesn't Buy Happiness.....
This is not intended to be an example blog entry so please see the direction handout for specific requirements and suggestions for completing your blog entry. Instead I wanted to share an article with you and get your perspective on it. Traditionally the US and other nations have used GDP as one of the key economic indicators to assess the health of an economy and even general well being of a society. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total market value of all final goods and services produced annually within the boundaries of a nation. Some nations, organizations and even states within the US are experimenting with other measurements focusing on happiness and overall well being of a society instead of, or in addition, to GDP. I have seen articles in the New York Times and the Economist about this topic if you want to explore it further. To start our discussion, please read "If Money Doesn't Buy Happiness" published in the USA Today last year. Please share your thoughts on the topic after thinking about the pros and cons of using GDP and/or other measurements.
I disagree in measuring the well-being and happiness of consumers as a part of the GDP. The sole purpose of the GDP is to measure the domestic output of a country, not if the people are happy about what they have. I agree with Economist Steve Landefeld, this calculation would be to difficult and would probably have many errors to it.
ReplyDelete-Maci Woods
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ReplyDeleteMoney has become the tool required to survive in the developed world, money is now the limiting resource. Money has the ability to purchase goods and services that we require in order to live a healthy life and purchase the means to thrive and enjoy ourselves. Yet money can’t be the only contributor to happiness, and quite possibly the way this money is used has a greater affect on happiness than the numerical value. The countries that rank highest in happiness all possess a similar GDP per capita however they differ in how this wealth is spent. In countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Canada, the highest ranking nations, there is more social welfare such as excellent healthcare available to all, as well as a focus on investment and progressing as a whole. The United States, although possessing the greatest GDP, falls short of the top 10 ranking. How can this be? The USA has a much different political culture, one where the individual who values their own needs is given greater consideration than the welfare of all. While the Nordic countries and Canada had no qualms about spending money on affordable healthcare, the USA greatly resists regardless of their massive spending on military.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is as much of a cultural issue as it is a money issue. Happiness can be thought of as a combination of having proper healthcare, a stable job, money enough to survive and entertain oneself, and a safe environment to live in. While the USA has the highest rank in terms of money, it arguably falls short in the other categories, healthcare is one of the most expensive in the world, the job market is still unstable, and crime rates are much higher than most developed nations. Instead of focusing on individual growth, perhaps more attention is needed to addressing social issues such as the high income inequality measured by the Gini coefficient, where Sweden has a .259 and the USA has a relatively high value of .378. A greater importance on the wellbeing of people instead of the raw creation of wealth has proven better results in maintaining equality and happiness in many countries, and the USA still has much to learn as far as how we spend our money. Expecting to only obtain happiness for you, while disregarding others, does not seem to be the proper way to obtain true happiness in a nation.
Eunice: In relation with the economy, happiness is not a factor. The economy and happiness should not coincide, because they are two separate attributes. Well-being and happiness are merely social attributes. If money doesn't buy happiness, it shouldn't be measured either. When people are asked about how "happy" they are, fabrications can easily be made. Happiness can also differentiate day by day, which leads to inconsistency. The economy should focus on the economy (GDP), and individuals in general should focus on their own well-being and health.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the old saying, "money can't buy happiness" holds true, and is being better proven now and in the past few decades, Yes, America may be #1 in GDP, but does that reflect the true citizens? Now, that's not me saying that I don't think happiness shouldn't be gauged in some way, I don't think that it is something that needs to be counted in a country's GDP. GDP is defined as, "aggregate output as the dollar value of all final goods and services produced within the borders of a given country during a given period of time". So if money can't buy happiness, why should that affect a country's GDP? Happiness is not a final good or service being produced. GDP does it's purpose, and measuring happiness should be done by something else and included elsewhere. Happiness is too flaky of an emotion, it can change daily, even hourly, and it's a biased question. A monetary success is something that has it's basic components and calculations, and happiness shouldn't be included in that through the government.
ReplyDeleteThrough using GDP, there is always a flat measurement of the market value of the final goods. Because of this, we have an accurate measure of GDP, that doesn't need to be changed to include environmental factors or happiness. A broader look at GDP would become too time consuming and unnecessary. Also, there may be issues with the way individuals respond to a survey-as some would take it seriously and others would not. Although the findings do coincide with the idea that the more money a country has, the happier the people- this doesn't matter. Just because a nation is happy, doesn't mean that they are actually better off than any other nation. That being said, the GDP shouldn't include any measure of happiness.
ReplyDelete-Mattie Warbelton
The GDP is defined as measuring our country's economic prosperity, there is no need to bring happiness into the equation. It is true that money can not buy happiness, but happiness is not a factor in measuring how well off, money-wise, we are. There is no exact way to calculate or determine happiness, therefore it would be useless to attempt to measure. On top of that, happiness is always fluctuating and is the farthest thing from constant. There are certainly things that are not, but cannot, be included in the GDP that would make it more accurate such as non-market activities, underground activities, and leisure. However, like happiness, those aspects are too difficult to measure. The sole purpose of the GDP is not to measure the overall well being of the people, but the overall wealth of the country.
ReplyDeleteIt’s rather sad, actually that as the richest country in the entirety of the world, we are left as the eleventh happiest. Of course money doesn’t buy happiness, but what is even more upsetting is the fact that few people try to be happy. When Honors English 11 did the final project last year, a “happiness stimulation project” a surprisingly low number of people participated and quite a few just downright refused. It’s sad how many people will go out of their way to refuse to be happy. But the total GDP does not necessarily reflect the happiness of a country, but yes, it does in fact reflect to total well being. When people try to measure the GDP of this nation it should not be a measure or reflection of the total happiness that is found in the nation. I don’t know just my first thoughts after reading this.
ReplyDeleteGDP is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. Nowhere in the definition of GDP does is claim to be a perfect judge of the nation’s well-being or a measure of the peoples happiness, it claims to only be a measure of a nations “health”. With that being said, measuring a nation’s happiness can be a very hard thing to do. I do not believe that asking every person if they are happy or not is a good measure of how successful a country is. Some people’s day may be good or bad based on something as simple as the weather. Finally, I do thing GDP is the best way to measure a countries well-being, flawed as it may be. It is an imperfect measurement, but the USA still was 11th in happiness. Though that pales its first place in GDP it is still impressive and shows the direct correlation between GDP, happiness, and over prosperity.
ReplyDelete---Bailey Zimmerly
GDP is indeed flawed in its ability to measure overall well-being of a country. It does not include unpaid services, leisure or people’s contentedness with their lives in that nation. But, that is not necessarily in the job description of GDP. It measures the wealth of a nation based on its output and that is all that it claims to do. We have taken it to measure the overall well being of a nation because there is simply no other way to do that at this moment and I am not sure as to what would be a good way. Happiness does not have a direct measurement and a survey based on happiness can have a large margin for error. People’s happiness can change daily and what makes one person happy is very different from another person. One could argue that the newest piece of technology to a person in America, the richest country in the world, would provide the same utility as a new to that person piece of technology in a developing country. Therefore, if you want to measure overall well being of a nation, you can look to GDP as a fairly accurate representation but in order for it to be truly accurate a direct way to measure happiness would need to be found.
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