Curiously, economists, whose discipline has much to do with human well-being, have shied away from factoring the study of happiness into their work. Happiness, they might say, is an ''unscientific'' concept. This is the first book to establish empirically the link between happiness and...

1. It all started with Adam -- 2. The French connection : Laissez Faire Avance! -- 3. The irreverent Malthus challenges the new model of prosperity -- 4. Tricky Ricardo takes economics down a dangerous road -- 5. Milling around : John Stuart Mill and the socialists search for utopia -- 6. Marx...