Which one for development (GDP or HDI or GNH)?

‘Reasons to Stay Alive’ is a 2015 memoir about major depressive disorder authored by novelist Matt Haig. After reading some reviews and summary of this book, I am just sharing my thoughts this in economic terms. The root cause of the depression is confusion about the real meaning of development not only for individual but also for nations (GDP or HDI or GNH). I thought GNH as development indicator not GDP would be chosen for the betterment of the majority of Indian citizens, when Narendra Modi personally chose to make Bhutan the destination of his maiden foreign trip in 2014 as India Prime Minister. To get clarity why I say this, first we need to understand the differences among GDP or HDI or GNH. Individuals' happiness can be driven properly when a nation chooses its development indicator wisely.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is used by the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the comparative analyses of its member nations. GDP is the value of the all final goods and services produced within the boundary of a nation yearly/quarterly. The term Washington Consensus’ (WB and IMF) had suggested a set of policy reforms which led to the processes (Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization, cutting down the role of the State in the economy, etc.) — across the world — markets can handle everything. A market economy must comprise all elements of industry, including labor, land, and money. But labor and land are no other than the human beings themselves of which every society consists and the natural surroundings in which it exists. To include them in the market mechanism means to subordinate the substance of society itself to the laws of the market/global finance. Global finance capital looks for and moves about in search of quick profits. “Gambling on everything — from currencies, companies and real estate to natural disasters and pension funds — has become the norm in global financial markets, turning capitalism into what traditional economic wisdom used to fear: a casino.”

HDI:As the western world had been declared the developed countries having top twenty ranks on the Human Development Index (HDI by UNO) which measures development by combining three indicators—Health, Education and Standard of Living. Social scientists started evaluating the conditions of life in these developed economies. Most of such studies concluded that life in the developed world is everything — including crime, corruption, burglaries, extortion, drug trafficking, flesh trade, rape, homicide, moral degradation, sexual perversion, etc. — all kinds of the so called vices were thriving in the developed world but not happy. It means development had failed to deliver them happiness, peace of mind, a general wellbeing and a feeling of being in good state. Happiness has its nonmaterial side as well. The nonmaterial part of our life is rooted in ethics, religion, spiritualism and cultural values.

GNH: Since 1971 Bhutan has rejected GDP as the only way to measure progress in its place, it has championed a new approach to development, which measures prosperity through formal principles of gross national happiness (GNH). Bhutan has been following up the GNH since 1972 which has the following parameters to attain happiness / development:  (i) Higher real per capita income (ii) Good governance (iii) Environmental protection (iv) Cultural promotion (i.e., inculcation of ethical and spiritual values in life without which, it says, progress may become a curse rather than a blessing).

Now, in a world beset by collapsing financial systems, gross inequity and wide Scale environmental destruction, this tiny Buddhist state's approach is attracting a lot of interest.