As subject specialists we tend to focus on our own areas of expertise. Perhaps our students, who come into contact with a range of subjects each day, are better at seeing connections. Recently the The Economist hosted a debate on happiness by looking at the topic “This house believes that new measures of economic and social progress are needed for the 21st-century economy.”
On one side is Richard Layard who opening statement is that: “Surely the quality of life, as people experience it, has got to be a key measure of progress and a central objective for any government.”
Arguing against the motion is Paul Ormerod who claims that: “Government attempts to increase measured happiness, rather than making life better for us, may well actually do the opposite.”
