When I first heard of Bhutan’s goal of maximizing its people’s happiness, I wondered if it really meant anything in practice, or was just another political slogan. Last month, when I was in the capital, Thimphu, to speak at a conference on “Economic Development and Happiness,” organized by Prime Minister Jigme Y. Thinley and co-hosted by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, I learned that it is much more than a slogan.
当我首次听到不丹把追求国民幸福当作目标的时候，曾经怀疑这样一种提法是否只是政治口号，还是具有实际的意义。上个月，我在不丹首都廷布举办的“经济发展和幸福会议”上讲话，才明白这不是口号而是实实在在的行动。不丹首相吉格梅·廷莱和哥伦比亚大学地球研究所主任兼联合国秘书长潘基文的特别顾问杰弗里·萨克斯是此次会议的共同主办者。