Does GDP measure Happiness?
Can we measure well-beings of country by GDP (Gross Domestic Product)? First, we should understand what the meaning of “Well-being” is. As refers to the Wikipedia, Well-being or welfare is a general term for the condition of an individual or group. That means social, medical, psychological, spiritual and economic state of citizens (Well-being, 2014); where Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the final measure of the goods and services produced within the country in a specific year. Nowadays, countries are measuring their well-beings in GDP which means people are as happy as GDP rises. GDP has its own limitations: overestimation of economy, underestimation of negativities and quality of life.
GDP is able to keep only an account of actual economic growth. It is not a penny about happiness. If the product sold, it raise the GDP; it won’t count a reason behind the product sell. Weather it is good for society or not. Any type of disaster can boot the GDP up. Like wars require soldiers, split oil require cleanup, and natural disaster require rescue team. After all these, rebuilding of infrastructure can greatly increase economic activities (What are the advantages and disadvantages of Gross Domestic Product?, 2014). This could only boost and GDP not society. This one proves a raise of GDP should not be considered as well-being because neither wars nor natural disasters could be good for society. That could never make civilians happy. The term’s inventor, economist Simon Kuznets says: “the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income as defined by the GDP.”(Pett, 2010, para 5). Moreover, any kind of volunteer work and open-source software (like Linux) are not counted in GDP. The a...
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... indexes like Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), Gross National Happiness (GNH), and Genuine Progress Index (GPI) for it.
References
CIW composite index reveals Canadian wellbeing is on the decline. (2014, March 30). Retrieved from Canadain Index of Wellbeing: https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/
Pett, S. (2010). The Happiness Project.
Sherlock, R. (2014, March 30). What is Quality of Life? Retrieved from Community Living British Columbia: http://www.communitylivingbc.ca/projects/quality-of-life/what-is-quality-of-life/
Well-being. (2014, March 30). Retrieved from wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-being
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Gross Domestic Product? (2014, March 30). Retrieved from cliffnotes.com: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/economics/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-gross-domestic-product
This constant income has proven to support our economy by more than just improving life quality. Canada’s three main exports also allow Canada to keep a more balanced budget. With an extensive amount of money being put into importing goods from other countries, exporting gives Canada a fighting chance against the terrible trag...
Raphael, Dennis. Poverty in Canada: implications for health and quality of life. 2nd ed. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press Inc., 2011. Print.
Gilmore, J. (2010, 11 03). Stats Canada. Retrieved 12 01, 2013, from Statistics Canada: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/
The measure of growth is flawed, how countries see their growth is based on the consumption of their people. Many countries use the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as an indicator for growth, as defined in It’s All Connected, “(GDP) is a calculation of the total monetary value of goods and services produced annually in a country” (Wheeler 11). The...
Bryant, T., Raphael, D., Schrecker, T., & Labonte, R. (2011). Canada: A land of missed
Gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the best ways to measure how a country’s economy is doing. A main component in figuring the GDP is personal consumption expenditures. Personal consumption expenditures accounts for about two-thirds of domestic
Understanding Gross Domestic product is central for understanding the business cycle and the progression of long-run economic growth (Hubbard & O’Brien, 2011, p. 631). The GDP is defined as the value-added of all goods and services produced in a given period of time within the United States (2008). The GDP is widely used as an gauge economic wellness and health of the country. What the GDP represents has a hefty impact on nearly everyone within our economy. As an example, when the economy is healthy, you will usually see wage increases and low unemployment as businesses demand labor to meet the increasing economy. The government has two types of economic policies used to control and maintain a healthy economy, fiscal policy and monetary policy. When economic growth is healthy it will have a positive on both individuals and businesses.
2010 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada: 1989-2010. Retreived Jun 24, 2011, from: www.campaign 2000.ca
One reason described to be a cause of happiness is income. Don Peck and Ross Douthat indicate how, “National income appears to be one of the best single predictors of overall well-being, explaining perhaps 40 percent of the difference in contentment among nations” (352). With this statement, comes the explanation of how income can influence happiness in adults who strive to earn a living. Research illustrates how, “For individual countries, with few exceptions, self-reported happiness has increased as incomes have risen” (Douthat 352). While these two statements provide sufficient evidence for the reason of income bringing happiness, income itself is not relevant.
Growing body of evidence suggest that the Gross Domestic Product will be widely affected as the level of output produced within Canada thus causing a dampening effect on investments since individual has deviated their skills from production and investing into other things that wouldn’t be beneficial to the society.
...angible aspects and so GDP should be used as an indicator in conjunction with other measures such as the Human Development Index, Genuine Progress Indicator (adjusts GDP figures income distribution) and the European Quality of life survey. This will give a more accurate and complete picture of Standard of Living.
With a score of 39, Canadian culture is interdependent and there is value placed upon egalitarianism. This is also reflected by minimal status and/or class distinctions in society. An example of this is superiors are always accessible and managers rely on individual employees and teams for their expertise and it is customary for managers and staff members to consult one another and to share information freely.
Pros and cons of condominium living. (2007, August 27). Retrieved March 29, 2014, from https://www.lendingtree.com/mortgage/pros-and-cons-of-condo-living-article
By using Gross Domestic Product as the main indicator of well-being, many important factors are neglected. As defined in the New Merriam-Webster Dictionary, well-being is the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous (1989, p.831). Economically, perhaps the only relevant state under the definition is prosperity, but in reality happiness and health have a great impact on well-being, significant enough to be recognized even when focusing mainly on wealth in numbers. If society hopes to have a more accurate and complete indication of well-being, globally or nationally, a new system of measurement must be developed, leaving GDP to its original function of totaling the dollar value of all domestically-produced goods and services sold over a period of time.
place to live in. Life expectancy increased in Canada due to improvement. in public health, modern medicine and nutrition. Canadians are more aware of their health and how to maintain a better quality of life by eating right, exercising and regular medical assessments. Canada is leading in these because our nation demands good quality, this is seen.