In the 1990s in grad school, a friend of mine was working on a project to develop a non-monetary based measure for a nation’s well being. Many had long questioned GDP as an adequate measure of economic progress or quality of life. I lost touch with my friend, but retained my interest in hers and similar projects. There have been a number of efforts by government bodies, researchers, and nations to find a better way. In a previous book review in this column, I discussed the idea of Gross National … [Read more...] about What Can You Do? What Can You Be?
gross national happiness
Check, Please
Everything has a price and there’s no such thing as a free lunch (though the cost of a salad and blackberry lemonade - to go - at Wildflower Café is awfully reasonable). If you’ve ever wondered why things cost what they do, The Price of Everything by Eduardo Porter explains. “Prices are everywhere.”Even if some of Porter’s claims are hard to take, he’s probably right. He compares the price for sorting garbage in Norway (about $114 per ton for somebody else to do it) to the earning of a waste … [Read more...] about Check, Please
