Bhutan’s governing philosophy of “Gross National Happiness” has been heralded the world over for balancing economic growth with the well-being of its citizens.
But recent discussions of “Gross National Happiness 2.0” by its newly elected Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay suggest that change on some level is underway as the country struggles with an economic crisis that’s left it — as Tobgay has said— “teetering on the brink of collapse.”
GNH, as it’s known, has been the guiding principle of Bhutan since it was introduced by the former king Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the early 1970s.
But with youth unemployment rates of nearly 30% and about one in eight people living in poverty, has Bhutan reached a point where its quest for national happiness must change?
“Yes and no,” Tobgay told CNBC in an interview on May 10. “Yes, because we’ve got to grow our economy.”
But the tenets of GNH will not…
