The press conference of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), held on July 21, 2026, marked an important moment in the national economic debate.
The press conference of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), held on July 21, 2026, marked an important moment in the national economic debate. By presenting the evolution of the main macroeconomic indicators, Governor Ronald Gabriel reminded everyone of a key distinction: a drop in the inflation rate does not mean a drop in prices. It only reflects a slowdown in the pace of their increase. A few days later, in an article published by Le Nouvelliste, Professor Thomas Lalime revisited this statement to explain the mechanisms behind it and clear up many misunderstandings. (see Inflation is down, but high cost of living persists in Le Nouvelliste Haiti, July 27, 2026).Economically speaking, Professor Lalime’s argument is solid. It deserves recognition. Yet, its impact goes beyond just monetary policy. It prompts us to question how our societies now define prosperity, progress, and, ultimately, the very meaning of the economy.
For several decades, the dominant economic paradigm has established itself as the primary language of states. Inflation, growth, GDP, interest rates, liquidity, foreign reserves, credit ratings, competitiveness: these indicators play a central role in public decisions and in assessing a country’s performance. Their usefulness is undeniable. What deserves discussion, however, is the status they are given. They describe how an economy functions; they don’t necessarily tell us what happens to society.
A currency can be stabilized while fear continues to rule the streets. Markets can regain some confidence while families give up on essential care. Macroeconomic balances can gradually recover while discouragement spreads among a youth with no prospects. Statistics record these realities imperfectly; citizens, on the other hand, live them every day.The slowdown in inflation announced by the BRH is therefore a positive development for monetary stability. But this improvement should not be confused with an immediate improvement in living conditions. When incomes stagnate while price increases have built up over several years, purchasing power remains deeply weakened. Households’ perceptions are not an illusion; they simply express another truth, the one of everyday experience.
This gap between economic performance and quality of life is not unique to Haiti. It accompanies a model that, over time, has turned the economy from a means into an end. By constantly measuring wealth, we sometimes forget what it was supposed to help build. A society is not fulfilled through the accumulation of indicators; it is fulfilled through the capacity given to everyone to live freely, with dignity, and to pass on a future.It was precisely this reflection that gave rise, in Bhutan, to the concept of Gross National Happiness. Far from being just a philosophical curiosity, it represents a methodical critique of the limits of Gross Domestic Product. It doesn’t reject growth, budgetary discipline, or monetary stability. It simply refuses to treat them as the ultimate goal.
Gross National Happiness proposes a different hierarchy of priorities. It reminds us that health, education, culture, the quality of institutions, safety, environmental preservation, social cohesion, collective trust, and free time are also forms of wealth. They are actually the ones that give meaning to all the others.This approach deserves special attention today. Contemporary crises reveal the limits of a system that can generate more wealth while allowing inequalities, distrust, isolation, violence, or insecurity to grow. When an economic model improves its indicators without restoring citizens’ trust in their future, it can’t claim to have fully achieved its goal.For countries facing structural weaknesses, this reflection takes on an even more strategic dimension. Monetary stability remains essential. Central bank policies are still crucial. But on their own, they cannot define a civilization project. A truly effective economy isn’t just about slowing inflation; it increases productive capacities, boosts value creation, protects human capital, strengthens food sovereignty, encourages innovation, secures investments, and concretely expands citizens’ freedoms.History shows that great nations are not distinguished just by their financial power. They are above all distinguished by their ability to define their own criteria for success. They refuse to let their destiny depend solely on indicators designed to measure markets when their ambition is to build a civilization.
Ultimately, the words of the economy only become problems when they stop being tools for analysis and turn into exclusive criteria for governance. A society that can no longer distinguish wealth from accumulation, growth from development, price from value, and the market from civilization will always end up losing sight of its own priorities. The challenge of the 21st century is therefore not to pit economic rigor against collective well-being, but to reconcile them within a single vision of progress. Only on that condition can Gross National Happiness stop being just an alternative indicator to Gross Domestic Product and become the foundation of a true doctrine of economic sovereignty. A doctrine that reminds us that money, growth, markets, and macroeconomic performance are never the ultimate goal of a civilization.but the tools of his freedom, dignity, and fulfillment. The day nations have the courage to measure their success not just by what they produce, but also by what they allow their citizens to become, the economy will finally return to its original purpose: serving humanity, rather than asking humans to serve the economy.
Notes *
Gross National Happiness (GNH) is a development framework developed in Bhutan at the end of the 1970s under the guidance of the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who stated that “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.” Unlike GDP, which mainly measures the value of economic production, GNH assesses development through nine complementary dimensions: psychological well-being, health, education, time use, community vitality, cultural diversity, quality of governance, environmental preservation, and living standards. So, it’s not really a subjective measure of “happiness,” but a multidimensional tool to help public decision-making that aims to put human well-being at the heart of national policies. TodayThis approach continues to inspire international discussions on indicators “beyond GDP.” The OECD, the United Nations, and several governments are now developing evaluation frameworks that include well-being, sustainability, and quality of life in public policy making, while Bhutan keeps adapting the GNH to the new economic, environmental, and demographic challenges of the 21st century.
** Inflation doesn’t benefit everyone in the same way. It generally tends to favor debtors, whose debts lose real value, as well as certain producers or businesses that can raise their prices faster than their costs. Heavily indebted governments can also see the real burden of their debt ease. On the other hand, employees whose incomes stagnate, savers, retirees, and low-income households are among the main victims, as their purchasing power erodes along with rising prices. That’s why lasting inflation often acts as a quiet way to redistribute wealth, benefiting those best positioned to adapt.
