Economists Are Singing Raffi’s New Song
Catchy new tune premieres at global conference (June 2005)
They can add, subtract, divide, and even multiply. But can they hold a tune? That was the question on everyone’s mind when a number of the world’s leading economists joined Raffi, on-stage to promote a Canadian Index of Wellbeing with his new song “Count With Me.”
Among them were Hans Messinger, from Statistics Canada; John Helliwell, specialist in the study of well being; Marilyn Waring, from New Zealand; Mike Salvaris from Australia, and conference organizer and Executive Director of GPI Atlantic, Ron Colman.
On June 21st, Raffi gave a keynote address and shared his new song at Rethinking Development: Local Pathways to Global Wellbeing held at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
The mission of this year’s annual conference on Gross National Happiness was to examine initiatives from around the world, that seek to integrate sustainable and equitable economic development with environmental and cultural preservation, and also with good governance.
Raffi’s new song “Count With Me” embraces the need for a new economic indicator—an Index of Wellbeing—that reflects the quality of life, and not just the value of goods and services, as measured by the traditional GDP.
Raffi is currently on a speaking tour presenting the Child Honouring philosophy, his “children-first” remedy for restoring communities and ecosystems that has gained the support of the Dalai Lama, Maurice Strong, Charles Pascal, and others, including academics, physicians, scientists and economists.