Dutt, A. K. and Radcliff, B.: Happiness, Economics and Politics: Towards a Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Abstract

measurable concepts of subjective wellbeing and to analyze its determinants, is a truly multi-disciplinary endeavor. The contributed volume edited by Amitava Dutt and Benjamin Radcliff emphasizes the multifaceted nature of the field by bringing together contributions from psychology, sociology, economics and political science. It gives a systematic overview of the main findings from the different social sciences and asks what (if anything) can be done to increase the happiness of individuals and societies. This book contains many important and insightful contributions illuminating diverse aspects of happiness research from the perspectives of the different social sciences. Even though each of them would be worth discussing in more detail, this review will be restricted to two of the book's main issues: first, what can economics and political science contribute to and learn from happiness research and, second, what lessons have to be drawn for public policy. The main contribution of the so-called "economics of happiness" is to challenge specific aspects of standard economic thinking. The first challenge comes from the so-called Easterlin Paradox: even though richer people are happier than poorer people at any point in time, people have, on average, not become happier although average incomes have risen substantially over time. Amitava Dutt illustrates how the miss ing growth-happiness-nexus can be explained by the relative consumption hypothesis. This chapter is a rich source of information and inspiration for thinking about the role of economic growth on human wellbeing. Turning to policy implications, Dutt claims that the problem of negative consumption externalities could be solved by weakening people's desire to compare themselves to others. Instead, individuals should strive only