Comments on: Forget GDP, we rate 102 out of 143 countries on the Happy Planet Index http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/ now with extra source Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:47:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: james mcdonald http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/#comment-36389 james mcdonald Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:35:15 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/#comment-36389 Maybe Crikey could hold a competition: best meaningful measure of an economy's health, to replace the holy deific GDP Growth figure. Maybe Crikey could hold a competition: best meaningful measure of an economy’s health, to replace the holy deific GDP Growth figure.

]]> By: MichaelT http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/#comment-36353 MichaelT Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:19:40 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/#comment-36353 I'm not convinced Costa Rica is the best model, but these are fundamental issues. Why do they never form part of our mainstream political debate? I’m not convinced Costa Rica is the best model, but these are fundamental issues.

Why do they never form part of our mainstream political debate?

]]> By: james mcdonald http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/#comment-36288 james mcdonald Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:55:23 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/02/forget-gdp-we-rate-102-out-of-143-countries-on-the-happy-planet-index/#comment-36288 According to a Costa Rican government website, "Agriculture in Costa Rica is probably the foremost factor in the progress and growth of this tiny Central American country ... [it] has defined much of the way ticos live: the diet is strongly based on products individual farmers raise in truck gardens for their daily sustenance." (http://www.vacationcity.com/costa-rica/information/agriculture/) Australia during its golden age as a rural country probably would have been at or near the top of the index. Maybe true "wealth" and well-being starts with a people being in control of, and close to, their own food supply. According to a Costa Rican government website, “Agriculture in Costa Rica is probably the foremost factor in the progress and growth of this tiny Central American country … [it] has defined much of the way ticos live: the diet is strongly based on products individual farmers raise in truck gardens for their daily sustenance.” (http://www.vacationcity.com/costa-rica/information/agriculture/)

Australia during its golden age as a rural country probably would have been at or near the top of the index. Maybe true “wealth” and well-being starts with a people being in control of, and close to, their own food supply.

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