The Evolution of National Accounting and New Statistical Information: Happiness and Gross Domestic Product, Can We Measure It?

Abstract Studies on happiness have acquired a particular importance over time. They have been considered useful not only for addressing policies on income production and distribution, but also in the quest for achieving happiness. This article will examine the following aspects: (a) reasons why in the future, the System of National Accounts (SNA) will have to introduce happiness as an economic aggregate measure following the ‘‘Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development’’ (R. 65/309) resolution, thus reconsidering SNA reference standards; (b) an evaluation of whether or not the introduction of happiness into the SNA and gross domestic product is methodologically correct; (c) the possibility of introducing a new objective indicator (coherent, pertinent and relevant) to measure the discomfort of society due to modernization; (d) to provide empirical evidence of this discomfort through the use of various approaches that take antidepressant expenditure into consideration as a new measure of unhappiness.