Research Catalog

Title

The illusion of well-being : economic policymaking based on respect and responsiveness / Mark D. White.

Author

White, Mark D., 1971-

Publication

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

206 pages; 22 cm

Summary

The use of measures of economic output to guide policymaking has been criticized for decades because of their weak ties to human well-being. Recently, many scholars and politicians have called for measures of happiness or subjective well-being to be used to guide policy in people's true interests. In The Illusion of Well-Being, Mark D. White explains why using happiness as a tool for policymaking is misguided and unethical. Happiness is too vague a term to define, and too general a concept, to measure in a way that captures people's true feelings. He extends this critique to well-being in general and concludes that no measure of well-being can do justice to people's true interests, which are complex, multifaceted, and subjective. White suggests instead that policymaking be conducted according to respect and responsiveness, promoting the true interests of citizens while addressing their real needs, and devoting government resources to where they can do the most good.

Subject

• Quality of life
• Social indicators
• Well-being
• Happiness
• Economic indicators
• Economic policy
• Economic indicators
• Well-being
• Wohlfahrt
• Indikator
• Wirtschaftspolitik
• Glück
• Achtung
• Responsivität
• POLITICAL SCIENCE > Cultural Policy
• SOCIAL SCIENCE > Cultural
• SOCIAL SCIENCE > Popular Culture

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1 Happiness: ...in which we try to stop a bad idea before it grabs hold 9 -- The Case for Happiness 9 -- The Problems with Happiness 17 -- Much Ado about Happiness 42 -- 2 Weil-Being: ...in which we cast a wider net and catch a much larger fish 51 -- What Is Well-Being? 52 -- Preferences 61 -- Making Preferences "Better" 74 -- From Preferences to Welfare 78 -- Much Ado about Preferences, Too 85 -- 3 Interests: ...in which we clarify what's really important 91 -- Interests: What Matters to Us 93 -- Value Substitution 110 -- What about Care? 117 -- 4 Respect: ... in which we explain how things ought to be done 129 -- On Measurement, Maximization, and Rules 130 -- Process versus Outcomes 136 -- Policymaking Based on Respect and Responsiveness 142 -- What If Someone Gets Hurt? 148 -- What Should the Government Do, Then? 158.

ISBN

• 9781137364654 (hbk. : alk. paper)
• 1137364653 (hbk. : alk. paper)
• 9781137364661 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 1137364661 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2014010058

OCLC

880831090

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library