In his book “The Politics of Happiness” Derek Bok argues that happiness should be a goal in public policy. He presents … an inventory of social problems in the US with negative effects on happiness, like inadequate education, chronic pain … deal with these problems. He also pays attention to some more general happiness-issues for US-policymakers, like the …

“Exploring happiness”, published in 2010, she explains why she finds happiness unfit to be included. She observes that there are … discordant claims about what happiness is. Any particular vision can lead to practical choices that either adhere or violate the … values she prefers. In my view subjective happiness should be included, because there are no discordant claims about the …

of happiness. We re-assess this paradox analyzing multiple rich datasets spanning many decades. Using recent data on a … happiness. Together these findings indicate a clear role for absolute income and a more limited role for relative income … comparisons in determining happiness. …