The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being

Until recently, the conventional wisdom was that there was no extra benefit after a certain point—$70,000 being the magic number most often bandied about. Now we have a ton more research, spanning hundreds of thousands of people across more than 140 countries, this turns out to be wrong. In fact, if you chart a graph of income and happiness, you fi

‘Positive psychologists’ have more recently had an impact, and empirical research has been carried out in a quest to discover what makes us happier. The work of these pioneering psychologists is fascinating and valuable. We can imagine their empirical research as offering a horizontal image of happiness, with its wide data drawn from large cross se

even if we accept the “flatline” empirical result on happiness and wealth, these self-reported happiness questionnaires are given to individuals in normal life circumstances. The answers will not pick up the ability of wealthier economies to postpone or mitigate extreme tragedies. For instance, happiness measures cannot pick up the benefits of grea

What if, instead, the goal were happiness? Not at an individual level, with more yoga or self-care or Pinterest-perfect hobbies, but a political one: What would the world look like if our laws and policies prioritized feeling good?

Global economic data shows that once a country reaches a modest level of income—enough to meet basic needs—there is zero connection between happiness and wealth. Intangibles like warm connections with people we love and meaningful activities make people far happier than say, shopping or work.