<p><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/happiness plaque-480x319.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="100" height="66" /></span>The fact that economists were at the podium questioning the equivalence of happiness and GDP is a hopeful sign, a sign of a deep crack in the foundation of the economics discipline. But it is one thing to say there is more to happiness than economic growth; it is quite another to propose that economic growth is inimical to generalized happiness. None of the speakers advocated an end to growth &ndash; that would be called, in the present vocabulary, economic stagnation or recession. Instead, they invoked, again and again, "sustainable development," a phrase I must have heard 30 times.</p>
<div class="image-clear"></div><p><a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2012-04-26/un-happiness-summit-coal-pile-ballroom">read more</a></p>