For those intrigued by this article, I recommend a superior one by Robert H. Frank that appeared in the Times in March 2008. Frank approaches the topic more fairly, presenting both liberal and conservative viewpoints on the GDP. This more recent article on the same topic--seemingly sourced from telephone, email and/or Google--inquires: "If the U.S. economy is so bad, why is the gross domestic product rising?" Obesity is bad, the article states, and should result in a subtraction in the GDP (although the obesity industry adds $315 billion annually to the economy). The liberal viewpoint often notes that GDP and happiness do not correlate; the conservative viewpoint often obscures inflation to show that it does. Rather than investigate the impact of those opposing forces, this writer wastes half of the article on a wiki-like history of the GDP. He also appears to have googled famous quotes on the topic, coming up with one by Robert Kennedy ( http://dbaron.org/views/quotes ). The problem with accessing famous quotes is that they often have a legacy, as this one does with Joe Biden ( http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1127016,open082608.article ). In sum, the main benefit of Louis Uchitelle's easy article may be in sparking interest in what constitutes social happiness.