WHAT IS WRONG WITH GDP?
Since its introduction during World War II as a measure of wartime production capacity, the Gross National Product (since changed to Gross Domestic Product — GDP) has become the nation’s foremost indicator of economic progress. It is now widely used by policy makers, economists, international agencies and the media as the primary scorecard of a nation’s economic health and well- being.
Yet the GDP was never intended for this role. continue reading…
If you would like a replacement for your planner, cell phone, pager, palm pilot, blackberry, note pad, digital voice recorder, pocket camera, local cyber cafe, and maybe even your computer, look no further. Palm’s Treo 650 for Palm OS may just be your answer.
This handheld PDA has replaced almost all the above for me. I can send and recieve email, surf the web, record voice memos, sync with my computer, and generally get things done faster and more effeciently. Leaving me more time to enjoy a good book, a walk in the woods, or just to stand by the shore and watch the waves.
I bought an unlocked Treo 650 rather than buying it from a phone company. I then signed up for the free phone contract with my local provider (must use SIM cards - Cingluar in the States and Rogers in Canada). I then placed the SIM in my Treo and set up my voice mail and email. When I travel to Europe I can purchase or rent a SIM and eliminate the high roaming charges. If you travel alot your Treo phone and multiple SIM cards will keep you in contact, when you want to be contacted. If you are using David Allen’s Getting Things Done concepts to manage the stuff in your life you will find the Treo 650 an outstanding productivity tool. For more information go to Unlocked Treo 650
Being on the road for the past several weeks, I appreciate the value of a good book to refocus my efforts and energies. Planning comes in two varieties: top-down explained in Steven Covey’s book First Things First and bottom-up illustrated by David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. While everyone would like to start at the top and work our way down, many times the messes in our life are suffocating us. It is in times like these that we must first put in place the tools necessary to clear the decks of our current projects. This is Allen’s great secret, getting through the mess to give us the freedom to look ahead. Read Getting Things Done
What is happiness? In the United States and in many other industrialized countries, it is often equated with money.
Economists measure consumer confidence on the assumption that the resulting figure says something about progress and public welfare. The gross domestic product, or G.D.P., is routinely used as shorthand for the well-being of a nation.
But the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has been trying out a different idea.
In 1972, concerned about the problems afflicting other developing countries that focused only on economic growth, Bhutan’s newly crowned leader, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided to make his nation’s priority not its G.D.P. but its G.N.H., or gross national happiness.
Bhutan, the king said, needed to ensure that prosperity was shared across society and that it was balanced against preserving cultural traditions, protecting the environment and maintaining a responsive government. The king, now 49, has been instituting policies aimed at accomplishing these goals.
Now Bhutan’s example, while still a work in progress, is serving as a catalyst for far broader discussions of national well-being.
Around the world, a growing number of economists, social scientists, corporate leaders and bureaucrats are trying to develop measurements that take into account not just the flow of money but also access to health care, free time with family, conservation of natural resources and other noneconomic factors. For more info click here.
