Happiness and real business

The quote sparked ridicule.

“The goal is not to balance the budget, it’s to be happy as a people,” said Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand in 2010.

Even if the increase in the QST had made his sentence less easy to digest, Mr. Bachand was right. What good is eliminating the deficit if it is done by impoverishing the quality of life?

For these same reasons, gross domestic product (GDP) is an incomplete indicator. Economic growth says nothing about inequalities and it does not take into account the collateral damage to the health of citizens or ecosystems.

Hence the importance of the creation this week of “Québec Well-Being Indicators”, a series of 51 charts on social, environmental and economic issues that take the pulse of our society. How do people feel about their mental health? Are income gaps widening? And what about the quality of the air, the economic integration of immigrants, the housing shortage or the skills of students in reading and mathematics?

The answer is just a click away thanks to the new dashboard.

There is nothing original in criticizing GDP.

In 1968, Robert Kennedy was ironic about this indicator. Even if building a prison increases the GDP, it does not mean that all is well in society…

Nothing new either in the attempt to establish new indicators. As early as the 1970s, the famous economists William Nordhaus and James Tobin sought to measure “economic well-being”. The title of their article was eloquent: Is Growth Obsolete? ^⁠1

The indicators revealed do not reinvent the wheel. The Quebec Institute of Statistics, government departments and academics already measure many of these topics. So why this new platform?

Its merit lies in its educational and unifying side. Business, union, environmental and community leaders have joined forces with a few researchers to form this “Group of 15”. Despite their differences, they agreed on these priorities as well as on the methodology to evaluate them.

This lighting is necessary when we know the tendency of the State to hide or disguise embarrassing data…

For his part, François Legault is particularly concerned about GDP per capita. Its mission: to catch up with the average income of Ontario. This would obviously be welcome to fund our public services. But the Prime Minister is obsessed with it. “Every time I return an immigrant who earns less [que la moyenne ontarienne de 50 000 $], I am making my problem worse,” he said to employers during a private meeting. ^⁠2. However, certain lower-paid trades are essential, such as beneficiary attendants.

The pandemic has reminded us how much health, education, culture and access to nature also contribute to our quality of life. During the brief moments of respite, we realize how much the frenetic pace exhausts us. As if life were flowing through our fingers.

So, are we happy as a people? The collective does not try to measure it, and that is understandable.

The term is difficult to define. By default, it is assessed by asking respondents if they are happy. the world happiness report draws up a ranking each year based on this subjective evaluation^{⁠ 3}. The OECD also takes this into account in its “better living” index.

The exercise is useful, in particular for reflecting on the distribution of wealth – beyond a certain income, money loses its effect on the feeling of well-being.

But such an indicator also contains a risk. We are already obsessed with happiness. It has almost become a moral duty. You have to “work on yourself”, as if negative emotions were abnormal and an individual was solely responsible for their fate.

Better to focus on the collective responsibility to ensure dignified living conditions, such as adequate education, accessible health care, a viable income and a breathable environment.

Mr. Legault’s opponents portray him as a narrow-minded accountant, and I do not want to relay this caricature. Like the other parties, the caquistes recognize that access to a doctor, mental health care and a place in daycare are among the priorities of Quebecers.

Moreover, I have the impression that our debates are becoming less ideological. Party membership is crumbling. Quality of life motivates voters more, and part of the reason for cynicism is that people wonder if a party can really make a difference.

Yet they can. These indicators of well-being will add pressure to them. A little bit, at least. And they will help to talk about the real real deals.