History of Happiness Studies
History of Happiness Studies
Economics, the "dismal science," has traditionally been concerned with the competition between supply and demand, and concerns itself more with the market than with people. But even from the time of Aristotle, the importance of happiness in one's life has long been recognized. Many important economists and philosophers have included the concept of happiness in their works.
Jeremy Bentham
In the 18th century, Jeremy Bentham, a leading English jurist, philosopher, and social and legal reformer, proposed that public policy should maximize happiness in society. In other words, the policies of the government should help to make its citizens happier! This lead to the development of economics as a study of utility of happiness.
Bentham and his "utilitarian" economics were very influential on welfare policies.
It assumed that happiness can be compared accurately across different people. It also assumed that the utility of income is greater for rich people- in other words, richer people are happier. Thus, an important component of the welfare policies influenced by utilitarian economics tried to redistribute income so that it is more equal.
Lionel Robbins
In the early 1900s, economics was further challenged by the English economist, Lionel Robbins. He disagreed with traditional economics, and felt that the economy should take its impacts on people into deeper consideration, moving more towards the personal focus. In 1932, he published Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science, and argued that it is not necessary to know or compare a person's level of happiness in order to predict his or her behavior. Economics, to Robbins, is about "the relationship between given ends and scarce means". This helped lead to the development of "positive economics".
Robbins himself did not focus so much on the importance of happiness in public policy. However, his followers did attempt to create an index for happiness. Their equation roughly equaled GDP adjusted for pollution and leisure, and still placed great importance on income. This and later-developed indexes helped to form a tool for public policy makers when looking at happiness.
Richard Layard
Born Peter Richard Grenville Layard, this British economist has been one of, if not the most, influential individuals in the development of happiness studies.
Life
Richard Layard was born on March 15th, 1934. He was a King's Scholar at Eton, studied at King's College, Cambridge University, and obtained his Masters in Science (Economics) from the London School of Economics. He has held a number of different academic positions since the 1960s. He has also acted as an advisor to many organizations, including government institutions in the United Kingdom and Russia.
In 1991, Layard married Molly Christine Meacher. They now have two daughters and two sons.
In 2000, Layard became a Labour Life Peer in the House of Lords, gaining the title of Baron Layard of Highgate, London Borough of Haringey.
Work
Richard Layard has developed his reputation through his work with labor economics. Labor economics advocates the idea of "welfare-to-work" policies, where social welfare payments encourage/force recipients back into the job market. Layard has worked with, and is a supporter of, many of the economic policies of the New Labour government in the U.K.
Recently, Layard has turned his focus to Happiness Economics. His interest in the area began with his work in the Robbins Committee on Higher Education, which Robbins was the chairman of. Layard states in his lectures that "in his [Robbins's] autobiography he says that working with Claus Moser and me at that time was “one of the most rewarding experiences” of his life. I feel exactly the same. Discussing any issue with Lionel was like a great voyage of discovery, and, if anyone ever practised the evidence-based approach to social policy, it was him." However, Layard takes a different perspective on happiness than his mentor. While Robbins looked at happiness's effects on the economy through positive economics, Layard focuses on the importance of happiness in public policy.
Layard believes that income is not a good approximation for happiness, and argues that there are three major social factors that are often overlooked:
- social comparisons
- adaptation
- changing tastes
Layard concludes that government policies and taxes should serve another purpose beyond paying for public services and redistributing income. Taxes should also counteract the "cognitive basis that causes people to work more than is good for their happiness." In other words, they should help to preserve a healthy balance between work and life.
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