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The Economics of Happiness

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You are here: Home / Archives for Economics of Happiness

From ‘Progress’ to an Economics of Happiness

Blog From ‘Progress’ to an Economics of Happiness by Helena Norberg-Hodge. Photo by D. Jonez on Unsplash.

If there’s one thing I’d love world leaders to think about in connection with the UN’s International Day of Happiness, it’s that their measure of progress actually goes up with unhappiness and unrest. GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, which is […]

Filed Under: Economics of Happiness Conferences, Happiness, Localization Tagged With: consumerism, depression, Economics of Happiness, GDP, localization, mental health, progress, well-being

Community-oriented life at human scale

Unsplash Elaine Casap blog

The documentary Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh (John Page, Chris Breemen, Helena Norberg-Hodge & Eric Walton, 1993) provides an excellent introduction to the local, human scale traditions in Ladakh, and how local communities have been affected by the industrialised notion […]

Filed Under: Community, Education, The Economics of Happiness Tagged With: community, culture, Economics of Happiness, health, indigenous, mental health, well-being

Ten Years After the Crash: more of the same, or a new beginning?

The year 2008 was a momentous one. The ‘anniversary’ headlines are of course all about the financial crash. As Nick Mathiason in The Guardian put it at the time: “It was the year the neo-liberal economic orthodoxy that ran the […]

Filed Under: Economic Growth and Degrowth, Economics of Happiness Conferences, New economy Tagged With: degrowth, economic growth, economics, Economics of Happiness, GDP, globalization, happiness, new economy, well-being

Connecting over Soil

It’s no secret that there’s a divide between the global North and South. Most people know about the huge wealth gap between the industrialized and so-called “developing” worlds, and that rates of pollution, resource use, greenhouse gas emissions – and […]

Filed Under: Food and Farming Tagged With: agriculture, community, Economics of Happiness, farming, globalization, happiness, health, local food, localization, North, South

Democrats & Republicans Uniting to Oppose Corporate Rule?!

There is a huge political divide between the Democrat Party’s leadership and its local voters. There is an equally huge political divide between the Republican Party’s leadership and its local voters. In a nutshell, the divide can be summed up […]

Filed Under: Economics of Happiness Conferences Tagged With: corporate, corporations, democracy, economics, Economics of Happiness, globalization

Mental Health and Globalization: An Alternative Theory on the Mental Health Crisis

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a sick society.”                          – Jiddu Krishnamurti I have a secret that I usually keep locked up inside of myself, hidden from even those who know me well: I suffer […]

Filed Under: The Economics of Happiness Tagged With: depression, Economics of Happiness, globalization, happiness, health, localization, mental health, sustainability

Big Picture Activism

This piece is excerpted from Localization: Essential Steps to an Economics of Happiness, a new publication from Local Futures.   Despite the countless grassroots projects already under way, the global economic juggernaut can seem too powerful to stop. But because […]

Filed Under: Resistance and Renewal, The Economics of Happiness Tagged With: Economics of Happiness, globalization, happiness, localization, sustainability

From Global to Local in India

“The Future is Fast. We are Faster.” This ubiquitous billboard for a tech company neatly captures the zeitgeist in modern-day Bangalore, and rapidly-urbanizing India generally. Today, Bangalore’s erstwhile appellation as India‘s ‘garden city’ seems sadly anachronistic. To arrive at the […]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: Economics of Happiness, globalization, Planet Local

The Easiest Way to Tackle Climate Change

Hopes were high as our leaders gathered in Durban late last year.  But another round of prevarication, indecision, postponement and finally outright refusal to meet carbon targets has certainly left those of us concerned about climate change feeling very discouraged.  […]

Filed Under: The Economics of Happiness Tagged With: Economics of Happiness, sustainability

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