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Happiness

In: The Illusion of Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Mark D. White

Abstract

In this chapter, I’m going to discuss the current “hot thing” in policymaking—happiness—and use that as a springboard into other approaches to policy based on well-being. As we’ll see, happiness (or subjective well-being) seems to have clear advantages over more traditional measures of economic welfare (such as gross domestic product, or GDP). According to advocates, it respects the subjectivity of individuals’ goals and tracks their actual well-being much more closely than GDP does—and it may even be the same as well-being itself, in which case measuring happiness would be the perfect tool for the job. However, the reality is more complicated than that: given the nature of the concept of happiness, it is difficult to define it, measure it, and implement policy based on it without additional complications, problems that prove fatal to the entire enterprise. In addition, there is reason to doubt that happiness is the most important basis on which to make policy—or even an important one at all.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark D. White, 2014. "Happiness," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Illusion of Well-Being, chapter 0, pages 9-49, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-36115-8_2
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137361158_2
    as

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