"All citizens are entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Declaration of Independence USA, 1776.

Humanity has been thinking about happiness for a long time and even in the US Declaration of Independence, the Founders called the "pursuit of happiness" an "inalienable right," yet economists have poignantly noted that we do not well understand the determinants of the attainment of happiness. In this course, we will examine the study of economy of happiness, especially since the 1980’s when it moved to the center of vociferous debates among economists and the argument that "Economic activity"-the production of goods and services-is certainly not an end in itself but only has value in so far as it contributes to human happiness. We will examine the debates on the relationship between happiness and income. Beginning with Amartya Sen's findings that GDP was a largely insufficient metric for gauging national well-being, we will focus on "Gross National Happiness" (GNH), and his new approach of "Capability Theory," emphasizing, that human wellbeing is more than just income and consumption. We will then draw upon the Schumacher's study of "Economics as if People Mattered," to move towards a more holistic approach to economics of happiness and wellbeing. We will analyze Brown and Pikettys' critique of the longstanding "market-myopia" of American policy makers, as well as the "crises of capitalism" and further examine the work of economists Richard Easterlin, Frey, Bruno, and Stutzer, and Deaton to consider if the modern economy has reached a point at which the average American's Salary to Happiness Ratio is nearing its ceiling. We will seek to answer questions such as: What is economic happiness? Does money buy happiness? Can we measure this happiness, and if so, how? What is the relationship between economics, creative work, art and happiness? We will assess the interplay between individual and social happiness by considering the nature and meaning of happiness in the contemporary United States as well as in other countries. How does happiness differ among cultures and nations? What is (and should be) the role of governments in formulating public policies for happiness? The course will also include a lab in which students will examine their own assumptions about happiness and consumption decisions about the attainment of happiness, in order to address the paradox at the heart of our lives, that as societies become richer, they do not necessarily become happier. If we really want to be happy, what would we do differently?

Outcomes

1. To understand difference between Happiness as an emotion and happiness as subjective well being.  

2. Be able to articulate the relationship between emotional happiness and subjective well being.

3. Be able to critique role of new subjective well-being literature in economics.

4. Be able to Compare and contrast different approaches to the measurement of welfare and progress , like GDP and GNH etc.

5. Understand the relationship between income and happiness and wellbeing.

Required texts and materials, (most on line)

1. Frey, Bruno S. and Alois Stutzer, Happiness & Economics: How the Economy and Institutions affect Human Well-being. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

2. Easterlin, Richard A., Happiness, Growth, and the Life Cycle. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

3. Eric Weiner. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2008.

4. David G. Myers (1992) The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy – And Why.

5. https://www.creativityatwork.com/2007/05/28/art-and-science-of-happiness/

6. Deaton (2008). “Income, health and wellbeing around the world: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll”. In: Journal of Economic Perspectives 22.2, p. 53

7. Richard A. Easterlin (1995). “Will raising the incomes of all increase the ha piness of all?” In: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 27.1, pp. 35–47

8. “Inequality for All” (film, 2013) available on Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, VUDU, Google Play, and iTunes. https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-Lkry-SF01&hsimp=yhs-SF01&hspart=Lkry&p=Inequality+for+All+youtube#id=3&vid=d53e5c535809507abf5457a1024aecd9&action=view

9. U.N. (2013). World Happiness Report. url: http://unsdsn.org/files/ 2013/09/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf

10. Sen, Amartya (1996), “Rationality, joy and freedom.”