WEALTH AND HAPPINESS

In The Market Experience, Robert Lane restates the central criticism o f economic views of human satisfaction-namely, that they define welfar e as utility and, in practice if not in theory, use money as the measu re of utility, while in reality utility (or welfare) ought to be defin ed as happiness. In exploring the implications of this noneconomic def inition for our assessment of markets, Lane summarizes the evidence ab out how people assess their own happiness move successfully than he cl arifies the meaning of that word. Since increases in income above a ce rtain minimum do not increase happiness, work must be made more meanin gful.