France to Count Happiness in GDP

EconomicPolicyJournal.com ^

[Kozman]

...France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, on Monday urged other countries to adopt proposed new measures of economic output unveiled by a panel led by Joseph Stiglitz...Naturally, one consequence of the commission’s proposed "enhancements" to gross domestic product data would be to improve instantly France’s economic performance by taking into account its health service, expensive welfare system and long holidays and throwing some kind of number out on that. At the same time, the commission’s changes would downgrade US economic output...

[Da Coyote]

I should be surprised by this.

However, since it’s a liberal (progressive) “idea”, I’m not.

We really need scientific notation to adequately express the stupidity of the left.

[Da Coyote]

Oh, and I realize that Sarcozy is supposedly not a left winger - but with such silliness - he becomes an honorary idiot o’the left.

[indcons]

"...improve instantly France’s economic performance by taking into account its health service, expensive welfare system and long holidays and throwing some kind of number out on that."

LOL - an Animal Farm moment from France's leading "conservative"

[Paladin2]

I really don’t care about GDP. Or official inflation #s. I focus on Net Personal Domestic Product and personal inflation rate. Once the dear leader forces one to go Galt, the big picture fades.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I know!! Let’s count “jobs saved,” too. We can “just throw a number on that” as well.

[karnage]

Obama leads the way through the looking glass, and all follow. This is how Rome fell.

[fortunecookie]

At first glance, I chuckled, but 'happiness' or some such is important, maybe not for the GDP, but measurable for purposes other than how to give more nanny state perks. And then I read on...

At the same time, the commission’s changes would downgrade US economic output...

There we go - seems more like a weenie dissatisfaction that some in Europe and elsewhere have felt they've played 2nd fiddle to us and want to level the playing field, so invent some non-sequitor to fill the bill. Aaaaah....

[walford]

Such is what it is like to be a “conservative” in a welfare statist culture. As Mark Steyn recently pointed out, they are relegated to campaigning that they would be more efficient about providing welfare than the hard Left.

As Ayn Rand had pointed out, the Left’s purpose is to bring us to National Socialism and the conservatives’ purpose is to slow them down.

Let me get this straight; the more a country has redistibutionist policies that put the brakes on an economy that make more people eligible for welfare, this taking from the private, job-creating economy is counted as a positive?

George Orwell couldn’t have fabricated something more absurd.