Happiness index is key, Ben Bernanke says
THIS STORY APPEARED INAugust 07, 2012
WASHINGTON — Ben Bernanke wants to know if you’re happy.
The Federal Reserve chairman on Monday said that gauging happiness can be as important for measuring economic progress as determining whether inflation is low or unemployment is high. Economics isn’t just about money and material benefits, he said; it is also about promoting ‘‘the enhancement of well-being.’’
Bernanke and Fed policy makers rely on reports about hiring, consumer spending, and other economic data when making high-stakes decisions about the $15 trillion US economy. The Fed’s dual mandate is to maintain low inflation and full employment.
‘‘We should seek better and more-direct measurements of economic well-being,’’ Bernanke said Monday in a videotaped speech shown to a conference of economists and statisticians in Cambridge, Mass. After all, promoting well-being is ‘‘the ultimate objective of our policy decisions.’’
