HPPE Seminar 23 October  - “Does more money make people happier?”


Dear all,

Next Wednesday, on October 23rd, Huei-chun Su will be presenting at the HPPE seminar on the topic « Does more money make people happier? The happiness-income paradox revisited with a philosophical perspective ».

The seminar takes place in Clement House 2.04 at 1 p.m. at the London School of Economics. Everyone is welcome.


Abstract
In the seminar, we will examine the relationship between income and happiness from both the perspective of economics and that of philosophy.
In his 1974 article ‘Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence’, Easterlin argues that within a country at a point in time there is a noticeable positive correlation between income and happiness, but over time, happiness does not increase as income goes up. This thesis is later known as the Easterlin Paradox or the happiness-income paradox. Nowadays, many scholars, particularly economists, still debate over whether the happiness-income paradox actually exists. ‘Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?’ This question is believed to be important because it is of significant policy implication. For instance, if the answer to the question is negative, taking economic growth as the top priority of the policy agenda would not help much in promoting people’s subjective well-being. In contrast, if the answer is positive, it implies that pursuing economic growth should remain a highly desirable policy goal.
The paper presented in this seminar will first identify the limitations of the empirical studies over the relationship between income and happiness and call for caution where the findings of the empirical studies are used as evidence for policy guidance. It will then argue that the philosophy of happiness, especially utilitarianism, can make a contribution to advancing the research of happiness economics.

About the speaker:
Huei-chun Su is an Honorary Research Associate of the Bentham Project at University College London in the UK. Her research interests include history of economic thought, philosophy of social and economic policy and moral philosophy. She is the author of the book Economic Justice and Liberty: the social philosophy in John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism (Routledge, 2013).


More information about the seminar is available at : http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/seminars/HPPE/HPPEMT2013.aspx or by contacting Gerardo Serra ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) or Raphaelle Schwarzberg ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>)

Best wishes,
Gerardo Serra and Raphaelle Schwarzberg

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