… and the Pursuit of Happiness - Institute of Economic Affairs
… and the Pursuit of Happiness - Institute of Economic Affairs
… and the Pursuit of Happiness - Institute of Economic Affairs
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First published in Great Britain in 2012 by<br />
The <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong><br />
2 Lord North Street<br />
Westminster<br />
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in association with Pr<strong>of</strong>ile Books Ltd<br />
The mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong> is to improve public<br />
underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fundamental institutions <strong>of</strong> a free society, with particular<br />
reference to <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> markets in solving economic <strong>and</strong> social problems.<br />
Copyright © The <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Economic</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong> 2012<br />
The moral right <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> authors has been asserted.<br />
All rights reserved. Without limiting <strong>the</strong> rights under copyright reserved above,<br />
no part <strong>of</strong> this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a<br />
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mechanical, photocopying, recording or o<strong>the</strong>rwise), without <strong>the</strong> prior written<br />
permission <strong>of</strong> both <strong>the</strong> copyright owner <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> publisher <strong>of</strong> this book.<br />
contents<br />
The authors9<br />
Foreword14<br />
Summary18<br />
List <strong>of</strong> figures <strong>and</strong> tables21<br />
1 Introduction25<br />
Philip Booth<br />
Politicians in a muddle25<br />
GDP or GWB?27<br />
<strong>Happiness</strong> <strong>and</strong> government intervention30<br />
Made happy by government or free to pursue happiness?31<br />
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from <strong>the</strong> British Library.<br />
ISBN 978 0 255 36656 4<br />
Many IEA publications are translated into languages o<strong>the</strong>r than English or<br />
are reprinted. Permission to translate or to reprint should be sought from <strong>the</strong><br />
Director General at <strong>the</strong> address above.<br />
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Printed <strong>and</strong> bound in Britain by Hobbs <strong>the</strong> Printers<br />
PART ONE: GDP OR GWB?<br />
2 The folly <strong>of</strong> wellbeing in public policy39<br />
Paul Ormerod<br />
Introduction39<br />
The GDP ‘straw man’40<br />
Wellbeing <strong>and</strong> measures <strong>of</strong> economic <strong>and</strong> social<br />
progress44<br />
Inherent weaknesses in happiness measures48
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