A TED talk by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on why countries should focus on wellbeing, not just GDP, is now available to view online.
She gave the 10-minute speech at the Ted Summit in Edinburgh on July 24, making the case that a focus on policies that promote wellbeing, and not just economic growth, can help tackle disaffection with politics.
The First Minister said the time for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be seen as the only measurement of a country’s success was over.
She continued: "When we focus on wellbeing, we start a conversation that provokes profound and fundamental questions – what really matters to us in our lives.
“What do we value in the communities that we live in, what kind of country, what kind of society do we really want to be – and when we engage people in those questions and finding the answers to those questions, then I believe that we have a much better chance of addressing the alienation and disaffection from politics that is so prevalent in so many countries across the developed world today.”
Sturgeon noted the establishment of the Wellbeing Economy Governments Group, created in 2018 by the Scottish Government with Iceland and New Zealand.
She also referenced the work of the Scottish economist Adam Smith, who wrote in The Theory of Moral Sentiments that the value of any government is “judged in proportion to the extent that it makes its people happy”.
The full video of the speech, and a transcript, is available at go.ted.com/nicolasturgeon
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