不丹依據佛教制定發展策略引起西方經濟學家關注

平易 編譯

據Washington times報道，在全球金融危機愈演愈烈的時刻，一些經濟學家開始研究不丹獨特的經濟政策。這個喜瑪拉雅山麓的王國依據佛教宗旨制定出以國民幸福總值來衡量的經濟政策。

在最近召開的一次會議上，不丹首相吉格梅·廷里對外國經濟學家、教育家和公共政策顧問說，「幸福是一個嚴肅的問題。在資源有限的世界里追求無限增長的生產力是無法持續的，對後代也是不公平的。」

巴黎經合組織(OECD)的一名規劃者說他能夠接受這種思想。「過去的幾十年，我們一直追求國內生產總值，而現在，社會開始告訴我們，應當把目光放到GDP之外，開始用幸福來衡量。」

國民幸福總值(GNH)，在不丹已有幾百年的發展歷史，然而直到1972，當時的國王吉格梅·辛格·旺楚克才使它正式成為一種經濟政策。旺楚克國王把以生產力發展為中心的政策轉向以人類幸福來衡量的政策，並建立四大原則：可持續的經濟發展、保護和促進文化價值的發展，環保和善政。廷里首相說，從那時起，不丹政府就在上述四大原則指導下制定了一系列五年計劃。

然而觀察者聲稱，「幸福」一詞使西方經濟學家和發展專家們誤解，在西方，人們通常用「人類發展」或「多元化發展」來表達類似含義。不丹研究中心主任DashoKarmaUra說，「如何定義『幸福』並不重要，重要的是改善條件，以使人們獲得他們能夠理解的『幸福』」。

Washington times原文：

「Happy」economic policy gains traction

Bhutan’s measure of well-being attracts other nations

Don Duncan THE WASHINGTON TIMES Friday, December 12, 2008

THIMPHU, Bhutan In the thick of a global financial crisis, some economists have come to this Himalayan kingdom to study its unique economic policy based on Buddhist principles, Gross National Happiness.

「Happiness is very serious business. The dogma of limitless productivity and growth in a finite world is unsustainable and unfair for future generations,」 Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Thinley told foreign economists, educators and public policy consultants at a recent conference here.

Jon Hall, a project leader at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said he was receptive to the concept.

「We’ve been chasing gross domestic product for decades and now, societies are starting to say we need to look beyond GDP and start measuring well-being,」Mr. Hall said.

Gross National Happiness, or GNH, was developed in isolation in Bhutan over centuries but was formalized an economic alternative in 1972 by then-King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in an attempt to address stagnation for one of the world’s smallest economies, which is based mainly on agriculture and forestry.

At the time, the king shifted the focus of development from productivity to human well-being in four areas: sustainable economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the environment and good governance.

Since then, government policy in Bhutan was guided by these principles in a succession of five-year plans, Mr. Thinley said.

But the term 「happiness」often causes Western economists and development experts to not take Bhutan’s economic approach seriously, observers say. And if they do, they tend to mask it with terms such as 「human development」or「pluralistic growth.」

「People are shy to use the word ‘happiness,’ 」said Dasho Karma Ura, president of the Center for Bhutan Studies in the capital Thimphu, which launched the informational Web site www.grossnationalhappiness.com last month.

「Defining happiness is not what is important. What is important is providing the conditions through which people can achieve happiness as they understand it,」he said.