The coldest winter for 30 years. Britain the last G20 country to beat the recession. And now four months of Nick Clegg on the stump. No wonder US students refer to depression at this time of year as a “February funk.” But can anything be done?
This February is also the month that Harvard academic Derek Bok publishes The Politics of Happiness (Princeton University Press) asking whether governments should really try to make their citizens happier. Answer: yes, not through promoting economic growth, but through environmental policies, healthcare and strengthening marriage and the family.
Bok’s is the latest in a long line of attempts to examine contentment. At first glance, the evidence for eternal sunshine seems strong. A much-quoted 30-year study at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, found optimists lived on average 19 per cent longer than pessimists. Since Bhutan adopted gross national happiness rather than GDP as the government yardstick for measuring progress, life expectancy has jumped from 43 years to 66, and literacy from 10 per cent to 66 per cent. As well as income, citizens’ social, cultural, religious and environmental needs are taken into account. Meanwhile, Labour’s own Dr Pangloss, Gordon Brown, has consulted “happiness tsar” Richard Layard, and put mental health workers in all job centres.
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