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State interference in people’s personal lives, e.g. attempts to encourage marriage, have never been well received socially, even if statistics show marriage is beneficial for personal well-being. Government’s priority goal should be helping people achieve happiness rather than the increase of wealth. Shouldn’t they focus on their responsibility for conventional – and more easily measurable – figures such as GDP, crime rates, and employment levels for their own sake, regardless of their effects on our private states of mind? Should government policies address happiness?
GDP represents the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country. Medicare services are included in this calculation. The sicker the people, the more they go to hospitals and the more medications they take. This results in greater GDP. GDP is therefore deeply flowed as an indicator of standard of living.