Department of Social Sciences
Discipline – Economics
Report of Guest Lecture
Speaker – Ms. Swati Vaidya
Date – 29th Aug 2014
The department of Economics at ICG organized a seminar on the theme "Wider horizons of Economics: Economics of Happiness" on the 29th august 2014. The guest speaker for the same was Ms. Swati Vaidya from Smt. BM. Ruia Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai.
This was an opportunity for the students to keep themselves updated with the latest happenings in the field of economics. As the theme suggests, "Economics of Happiness" looks beyond Income, Employment and Wealth. The speaker rightly pointed out in the words of Robert Kennedy- " GDP and GNP major everything but not Witt, courage, wisdom and learning.
The students were enlightened about how psychology and philosophy could have an impact on the field of Economics. The guest speaker also spoke about the idea of redefining "Rationality", the very base of Economics. The scope of rationality should not be limited to only efficient use of resources or wealth but it should also include being responsible and not polluting the environment, the air we breathe and the surroundings in which we live. One needs to be rational in a way that his/her personal interests do not dominate the community interest.
The speaker also emphasized on the need to pursue happiness as an economic objective, the best example of this being Bhutan- which has a measure of Gross National Happiness (GNH). In spite of being a monarchy, Bhutan could come up with such an economic objective way back in 1972.
The seminar was undoubtedly a food for thought, widening the horizons of Economics as well as the student's perspectives.