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Modern Society and the Economics of Happiness: London

Modern Society and the Economics of Happiness: LondonPublic Lecture and Open Discussion
Registration is necessary


Date: Thursday 6th October, 12 noon
Venue: The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London
(This event will also take place at the University of Warwick on Wednesday 5th October)

This event, organised by CAGE, brings together two of the leading thinkers in this field – Richard Easterlin, Professor of Economics, University of Southern California and Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics, University of Warwick – to discuss some of the key questions for the modern world:

  • What are the appropriate goals for a modern society?
  • Should economic growth be a major priority?
  • How do we balance environmental concerns with the goal of higher GDP?
  • What are the causes and policy implications of risky health behaviours?

The current discussion by policy makers about the need to measure human well-being rather than GDP can be traced back to the work of Easterlin and Oswald. As such, all policy makers and citizens, economists, sociologists and political scientists should be interested in this debate.

The discussion will be chaired by Emma Duncan, Deputy Editor of the Economist, and one of our most influential journalists and writers.The event will include much time for discussion from the floor.

Registration: To register please contact h.j.neal@warwick.ac.uk as soon as possible – there is no charge for the event but places are limited.

About the speakers:

Richard Easterlin, Professor of Economics, University of Southern California.
Easterlin is an economist and demographer. He founded the economics of happiness. His ideas have overturned conventional post-war wisdom and have shaped the evolving move away from GDP measures. He is known for the Easterlin paradox where he argued that, contrary to what economics undergraduates have for decades been taught to believe, the evidence suggests that happiness at a national level does not increase with wealth once basic needs are fulfilled. He is also known for his famous research on fertility and family size.

Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and Visiting Fellow at the IZA Institute in Bonn
Oswald is an economist and quantitative social scientist. He has done research across the fields of economics, psychology, and epidemiology. He writes in newspapers as well as academic journals, warned of problems in the housing market years before the crash and of the West’s reliance on oil long before most noticed, and is credited with having begun a host of academic research literatures. He serves on the board of editors of the journal Science.

Emma Duncan (in the chair) Deputy Editor of The Economist
Ms Duncan is one of the world’s most influential journalists and writers. She has an overview of, and wide experience in, the central debates of the modern world. She appearson television and radio programmes, and at The Economist she was previously Media Editor, Asia Editor and Britain Editor. Her book Breaking the Curfew (Michael Joseph) examines politics, culture and society in the state of Pakistan.