China promotes the pursuit of happiness

By Zhang Lijuan
0 CommentsPrint E-mail China.org.cn, March 16, 2011
Adjust font size:

30 years' of economic reforms in China have created an economic miracle. The government has promoted economic growth with a GDP target every year. But paradoxically, although people are wealthier, they are not happier. Facing issues of social injustice, high inflation, and a widening gap between the rich and poor, the government has decided to directly target happiness.

If you ask most working-class people if they are happier than they were a year ago when their incomes were lower, most would probably say no. And if you ask why, the answer would probably be complicated and hard to evaluate. This is unsurprising, since the economics of happiness is quite complicated. Social factors, perceptions of social justice and fairness, and of course personal issues, contribute to individual happiness. Leaving personal issues aside, most Chinese people are extremely unhappy about the current state of affairs regarding social justice and social welfare.

It is well known that Chinese people are diligent, thrifty and hard working. But interestingly, people who were born in the 1960s say they were happier in the past even though they had very low incomes and their families faced hardship. This shows that happiness is not simply a function of income and confirms the Easterlin paradox that people in rich countries are generally no happier than those in poor countries. It is a truism that money cannot buy happiness, but obviously we cannot live without money. The problem China faces is that the economy is growing but people's happiness is actually declining.

In the past, GDP targets were used to measure government performance; but the new happiness index will try to measure the effect of government policies on people's sense of well-being. The purpose is to force policymakers to consider public opinion and not just blindly pursue higher living standards. It is debatable whether the index will reflect exactly how people feel about government policies, but at least it will make local governments consider the social costs of economic growth.

1   2   Next  


Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comments

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产日韩在线观看视频网站| 男人把女人桶爽30分钟动态| 女人和男人做爽爽爽免费| 亚洲区小说区激情区图片区| 自拍另类综合欧美小说| 国产超碰人人模人人爽人人添| 一卡二卡三卡四卡在线| 最新猫咪www免费人成| 免费看美女隐私全部| 黄页网站在线视频免费| 天堂√在线中文最新版| 久久久无码精品午夜| 欧美日韩亚洲一区二区精品| 又爽又黄又无遮挡的视频在线观看| 麻豆映画传媒有限公司地址| 手机看片中文字幕| 亚洲午夜成激人情在线影院| 波多野结衣女同| 国产v亚洲v天堂无码网站| 2021国内精品久久久久久影院| 大黑人交xxxx| www.av网| 无码专区狠狠躁躁天天躁| 久久狠狠高潮亚洲精品| 欧美电影院一区二区三区| 午夜成人精品福利网站在线观看| 久草网视频在线| 在线免费观看一级毛片| 中文japanese在线播放| 桃子视频在线官网观看免费 | 深夜福利影院在线观看| 伊人这里只有精品| 色综合热无码热国产| 国产精品不卡在线| a视频在线免费观看| 成年福利片120秒体验区| 五月激情婷婷网| 欧美精品v国产精品v| 亚洲精品国产精品国自产网站| 精品国产日韩亚洲一区91| 国产大乳喷奶水在线看|