Argumentative Essay On Happiness Economics

In recent years, the dynamic between economy and psychology has been more closely studied showing that they are more closely related than most thought. Starting with the ideas of the Bhutan King in the early 1970s, the concept of “happiness economics” has earned widespread recognition. With that recognition has come a diverse debate with numerous positions concerning the measurement of happiness and its implications on public policy. Looking at the New York Times’ “Room for Debate” article on happiness economics, one can see the diverse positions taken. The four pieces included in the article are: “Happiness Is an Important Indicator of Societal Progress” by Bina Agarwal who is a professor of developmental economics at the University of Manchester, “Don’t Make Personal Growth a Utilitarian Goal” by William Davies who is the author of The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold us Well-Being, “Pursue Happiness, But in Moderation” by Sonja Lyubomirsky a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and “No Unbiased Way to Measure Happiness” by …show more content…
They agreed on the basics such as the positive nature of happiness and somewhat general definition, but as the debate turnes to the evaluation of measuring happiness, a majority agree that happiness cannot be effectively measured while Agarwal and Lyubomirsky support the measurement. This same trend is followed when the issue of public policy is risen by those that were in favor of measuring happiness. They failed to realize that the others in the debate were in agreement that measurement could not be done accurately or consistently in the first place. Overall, a majority of those in the debate are arguing similar issues; however Agarwal and Porter drop out of the argument because of their push for policy while the others were not in agreement for the measurement of