the success story of Bhutan precisely lies into not accepting outside advice unquestioned, to the extent that this is possible in an interconnected world – that, in fact, is one of the central ideas of the Gross National Happiness. In that, Bhutan is the equivalent of Singapore, arguably the most successful country on earth, where picking and choosing from global models and trends, rather than uncritically adopting them (let allowing international organizations to push them), has been part of that very success story Read More
Laying the foundation of a digital Bhutan by Sasha Ramani, May 2018

As computers continue their inexorable dominance of personal and professional life, learning how to communicate and work with them becomes increasingly important. Computer science simply must be a part of any well-rounded student’s education. If Bhutan is to truly realise its potential of being “Silicon Shangri-La”, it must seriously incorporate computer science into its educational framework. With so many free courses available, including by reputed schools like Harvard University, there is no excuse to wait. Read More

Building a better Bhutan – Land of Happiness to Silicon Shangri-La by Brian Levin and Kiernan Schmitt, Mar 2018

Last week, we visited Bhutan as part of a delegation of 29 Harvard graduate students studying business, law, public health, and public policy, led by Kinga Tshering, a Harvard Kennedy School alumnus and a former Member of Parliament in Bhutan. We traveled to Thimphu, Punakha, and Paro on our week-long spring break to learn about Bhutanese culture, people, and the Gross National Happiness Index. While we were expecting a week of visits to sedate governmental offices, tours of historic Buddhist monasteries, and hikes to picturesque mountain vistas, what we discovered in Bhutan was even more thrilling: a hotbed of ideas and innovation. Read More

Harvard Alumni from 14 Nations Discover Happiness in Bhutan by Meredith Segal, Jan 2018

During the course of our year studying at Harvard, we developed profound respect for Kinga as a scholar, a mentor, a civil servant, and a loyal friend. That friendship and our desire to discover the nation of which Kinga spoke so glowingly drew 31 of us from 14 countries to come to Bhutan from December 27 until January 3 for the inaugural Harvard trek to Bhutan, much to consternation of our families who questioned our venturing to the Himalayas during the Christmas and New Year’s Read More

Gross National Happiness: An Idea Whose Time Has Come? by Kinga Tshering, Jun 2017

The popularity of GNH has expanded beyond Bhutan’s borders, and is now a commonly accepted term amongst economists including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs. If policy makers can devise a way of empirically assessing social and emotional well-being, like Bhutan has done with its GNH variables, they could craft policies to address some of these deep-rooted societal problems.Read More

Bhutan: Governing for Happiness by Sophus A. Reinert, Thomas Humphrey and Benjamin Safran, Dec 2014

In early 2014, Bhutan’s newly minted Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay was faced with many questions as he deliberated on whether to approve a massive new Bhutanese-Indian hydropower collaboration that experts argued would provide energy, foreign exchange, and invaluable jobs, but which also risked undermining the country’s brand as well as its happiness. Read More