Abstract
It's rather strange to find an economist writing about happiness. I don't mean that economists are particularly miserable people, but, as the author himself notes, economists do tend to assume that happiness is merely a function of increased spending power. Lord Layard should know. Founder-director of the renowned Centre for Economic Performance at LSE and world expert on unemployment and inequality, for many years he has examined the effects of not having any spending power. But the intriguing thing about the thesis put forward in his book is that it contradicts classic economic thinking. Having money and being able to buy things doesn't actually make us happy.