Gross National Product Poem by gershon hepner

Gross National Happiness is G.N.H.,
and, according to Bhutan what nat-
ure recommends, whereas the G.D.P.,
gross national product, is a term that we
should now abandon, Stiglitz says. Pursuit
of profits, formerly our strongest suit,
should be replaced with G.N.H. the goal
that might unite these States to make them whole.
If I sound like a liberal, so what?
Trying to be happy isn’t hot
in certain quarters, but a stronger dose
of happiness would surely not be gross.

Inspired by Michiko Kakutani’s review in the NYT, January 19, of Joseph Stiglitz’s “Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy” (Skepticism for Obama’s Fiscal Policy”) :
Some of the suggestions that Mr. Stiglitz makes in these pages for reconfiguring the American economy (and American society) stray far from the realm of practical policy recommendations that actually have a chance of winning broad public support or being enacted by Congress. He writes about how a “redistribution of income” and more progressive taxation might help stabilize the economy and calls for a new global reserve system. He contrasts Bhutan’s concept of G.N.H. (“gross national happiness”) with America’s focus on G.D.P. and talks about the “moral deficit” that Americans’ “unrelenting pursuit of profits” and self-interest have created. Such remarks not only give ammunition to conservative critics who want to dismiss Mr. Stiglitz as a European-style liberal, but they also have the unfortunate effect of diverting the reader’s attention from the many shrewd assessments that he makes in “Freefall” about the causes and consequences of the great financial meltdown of 2008.


1/19/10