The year is 1937 and National Bureau of Economic Research economist, Simon Kuznets, has just presented his report to the U.S. Congress, “National Income, 1929–35.” The report contains his formulation for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the idea of a single…
What is “the economy?” At first, this might seem like an esoteric question, but it has ramifications for how we approach public policy questions. This question has special relevance for those of us who conduct cost-benefit analysis, which has been…
Recently I had the good fortune of being invited to participate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) 6th World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy held in Incheon, South Korea. I was asked to present the case…
Editor's Note: Welcome to our new Board of Directors member, Rob Moore, the author of this post. He brings a unique perspective to our work. A lot of people I know scoff when I start bringing up “happiness” in a…
By Charles Eisenstein In George Orwell’s 1984, there is a moment when the Party announces an “increase” in the chocolate ration – from thirty grams to twenty. No one except for the protagonist, Winston, seems to notice that the ration has…
When the organizers of the Vermont Poor People's Campaign first got going, they asked Gwen Hallsmith, Founder of Global Community Initiatives, Executive Director of Public Banking Institute, and long time friend of GNHUSA, what a new economy in Vermont…
Just out from our colleagues at the Happiness Alliance: an overview of 2017 data compiled from the Happiness Index, an online questionnaire available at happycounts.org. This year’s “Happiness Report Card” is a combination of disquieting data points along with encouraging…
The use of population indicators is increasing across our society, but is hardly a new idea. Utilization of population indicators has been with us here in the United States from early in our country’s history – since taking a census,…
In October, GNHUSA Board member Michael Moser and I had the good fortune to attend the "Localize It: What Resilience Looks Like" conference, sponsored by the visionary international group Local Futures/Economics of Happiness at the Vermont Law School. That event…
We are so pleased to announce that GNHUSA will be participating in the upcoming "Localize It: What Resilience Looks Like" conference in Royalton, Vermont at the Vermont Law School. The conference, one of four in the U.S. to be sponsored by…