FT on happynomics

Many newspaper articles on happiness economics follow more-or-less the same line (see 27 July 2008 post). A touch of utilitarianism (Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill) followed by some quotes from the usual suspects (including Richard Easterlin, Richard Layard, Nic Marks and Andrew Oswald). Today’s Financial Times piece by Jonathan Guthrie on “happynomics” at least has the virtue of mentioning that Nicholas Sarkozy has toyed with the idea of happiness yardsticks. It also points out that some academics argue there is a link between happiness and income: “Ruut Veenhoven of Erasmus University, Rotterdam, claims happiness increases steadily with wealth, albeit at a declining rate.”