Happiness 1/ed: Lessons From A New Science

In this landmark book, Richard Layard shows that there is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not just anecdotally true, it is the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe, and Japan. What is going on?

"Impressive . . . An excellent job of recounting the collective findings of much of this new science."
—The Wall Street Journal

"His lively new book . . . will not make conventional economists happy, but it should cause all of us to reflect more deeply on what really makes life worth living."
—Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone