CorpComms Magazine

I'm all for putting a positive gloss on things. Sometimes it is not easy - even the most talented spin doctor would be unable to persuade overseas visitors that, Jordan aside, Britain enjoys a tropical front.

And now France, a country famed for its brooding population, has announced a new means of calculating economic progress. Forget boring old measures like gross domestic product or retail price inflation; instead consider new indicators, such as work-life balance, recycling and even traffic congestion.

Having emerged from recession during the second quarter, president Nicolas Sarkozy has now unveiled a plan to make joy and well-being the key indicators of future growth.

Sarkozy announced: 'The crisis doesn't only make us free to imagine other models, another future, another world - it obliges us to do so.'

According to Sarkozy, if the world had only paid attention to happiness, wellbeing and sustainability two years ago then the economic crisis could have been averted.

Actually, I'm not quite sure how that would have worked. Perhaps the Financial Services Authority should have monitored City bankers' kerbside recycling habits rather than keeping an eye on boring old credit exposures? Or maybe security guards could keep an eye on bankers' smiles as well as checking passes as they enter the building? 'Fourteen grunts this morning, Ernie. I reckon it's time to sell.'

It may sound imbecilic, but Sarkozy has recruited Nobel Prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Armatya Sen (who should know better) to back up his theory. Their report points out that, while traffic jams increase GDP by boosting the use of petrol, they obviously don't improve quality of life. And nor do reports on happiness. 

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