Journal of Economic Literature
Book Reviews
2026-08-28
David Colander of Middlebury College reviews “Economics and Happiness: Framing the Analysis” by Luigino Bruni, Pier Luigi Porta,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Thirteen papers present a conceptual framework for a critical understanding of happiness studies and their relationship with economics. Papers discuss building a better theory of well-being; whether absolute income matters; correspondence of sentiments--an explanation of the pleasure of social interaction; testing theories of happiness; rethinking public economics--the implications of rivalry and habit; the philosophy of John Stuart Mill as compared to that of Aristotle and Jeremy Bentham; happiness and political philosophy--the case of Nancy Mitford versus Evelyn Waugh; the connection between old and new approaches to financial satisfaction; the move toward a theory of self-segregation as a response to relative deprivation--steady-state outcomes and social welfare; happiness in hardship; the evolution of caring; happiness and individualism--a very difficult union; and paradoxes of happiness in economics. Bruni is Associate Professor of Economics and Porta is Chair at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Index.”