Sam Parr tells how Bhutan's king said gross national happiness mattered more than GDP in the 1970s, a comment that went viral. The story appeals because it contrasts with work-obsessed cultures and shows a country tracking citizens' well-being alongside economic growth.
So there's a small country called Bhutan in between India and China. Their stock market is 18 companies and the total market cap is $800 million. In the '70s, the King of Bhutan did a diplomatic trip to India. This Indian reporter goes, "Hey King, what's your gross national product?" "What? In Bhutan, gross national happiness is more important than gross national product." And it was this like offhanded comment that he made saying their biggest export is happiness. And that totally hit. It went viral. I thought it was cool for 3 reasons. The king just said some shit and it hit and he ran with it. The second thing is that I do think it's like pretty fascinating in a culture that is all about work, work, work. But that's not really like the point of all this. It's like to be happy. So I thought it was cool that they're measuring that. Third and final thing is like a really great example of a pairing metric where it's about GDP, traditional metrics, but also make sure that your people are happy along the way.
