tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post8779067112551446722..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: Utility and HappinessUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-54549213718058773932014-10-16T16:12:31.785-04:002014-10-16T16:12:31.785-04:00Two comments on this.
1) The Glaeser et al find...Two comments on this. <br /><br />1) The Glaeser et al findings could be due to income distribution effects. They are definiing their "utility" outcomes by certain spatial market outcomes. But those reflect demand patterns that are heavily influenced by income distribution. Higher income people determine market outcomes more than lower income people. One simply cannot make statements about utility, aside maybe from some equi-marginal statements, from market outcomes, certainly not aggregate utility, if one is willing to believe in cardinal utility.<br /><br />2) They conflate "happiness" and "satisfaction," which shows ignorance of the literature. The two are highly correlated, roughtl .85 across many studies, but are not identical. In general, satisfaction is longer term, with many identifying it more with "utility" than "happiness" is. Indeed, there are plenty of papers by leading happiness researchers that argue that one cannot infer utility from measured happiness by surveys for many reasons, e.g. Clark, Frijters, and Shields, JEL, 2008, among others.rosserjb@jmu.eduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300046915843554101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-89701235117109819932014-10-15T21:48:58.572-04:002014-10-15T21:48:58.572-04:00Evolution does not maximize happiness or utility; ...Evolution does not maximize happiness or utility; evolution maximizes survival. The market is a meme that competes under the same evolutionary processes. <br /><br />In order to be happy, one must strategically reject utility as it is suggested to us by our genetically and socially caused inclinations. The market is one among many vectors of social inclination. Thornton Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11402495641975262697noreply@blogger.com