… and the Pursuit of Happiness - Institute of Economic Affairs

… and the pursuit of happiness
be maximised if the government does not consciously try to
pursue that objective specifically. This should not be surprising.
The wellbeing policy activists accuse economists of focusing too
much on the maximisation of national income as a government
policy objective. This is a false accusation, but a lesson can be
drawn from attempts by government to increase national income.
It also happens to be the case that economic growth is higher
when governments do not specifically plan for that end. In other
words, the central planning of a society to achieve a particular
desired end is likely to fail to meet that end, as well as changing
completely the nature of the society.
This is not to say that some useful policy advice cannot be
found from the empirical work on happiness economics. It can
tell us, for example – though we probably knew already – that
policies that impede employment seriously affect wellbeing.
Those authors whose chapters deal with the normative issues,
however, make a very strong case in this monograph that government
policy should not promote wellbeing explicitly.
PART ONE: GDP OR GWB?
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