Review by Choice Review
Should happiness be our social goal? Can it be? For the past ten years or more, Frey (Univ. of Zurich, Switzerland; coauthor with Alois Stutzer of Economics and Psychology, CH, Dec'07, 45-2139) and a number of other scholars have been asking whether the economic focus on utility could be usefully replaced by a focus on happiness. The inevitable questions have been asked: What is happiness? How can it be measured? Would a focus on happiness lead to a different set of policy recommendations? Frey and company have gradually built up a body of literature (see Economics and Happiness, CH, Oct'06, 44-1035, and the Handbook on the Economics of Happiness, CH, Sep'07, 45-0385, both edited by Luigino Bruni and Pier Luigi Porta) that warrants a book-length summary. This volume is it. While the use of the word "revolution" is probably hyperbole, the book does deliver a summary of the "happiness movement" in economics, written in a style amenable to both the academic researcher and the educated general reader. Of particular note is the concluding section, which provides a nice overview of the kinds of policies and political/economic institutions that the happiness movement would recommend. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; all levels of undergraduate and graduate students; researchers and faculty. R. B. Emmett James Madison College, Michigan State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
