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I always thought the purpose of government was to "protect people rights", not make people happy.
Please tell me what part of the Constitution gives the Feds the power to make people happy by printing money and handing it out to special interest groups. And Mr. Bernanke, no I will not be happy until the crooks in Washington D.C. shut down the unconstitutional Federal Reserve Board that you run. Fed chairman Bernanke wonders if you're happy Bernanke: Americans' sense of well-being can also provide measure of economic progress by Christopher S. Rugaber - Aug. 6, 2012 06:24 PM Associated Press WASHINGTON - Ben Bernanke wants to know whether you are happy. The Federal Reserve chairman said Monday that gauging happiness can be as important for measuring economic progress as determining whether inflation is low or unemployment high. Economics isn't just about money and material benefits, Bernanke said. It is also about understanding and promoting "the enhancement of well-being." Bernanke and Fed policymakers rely on reports on hiring, consumer spending and other economic data when making high-stakes decisions about the $15 trillion U.S. 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." Few Americans are likely to say they are happy with the economy right now. Unemployment rose in July to 8.3 percent, and economic growth has slowed sharply from the start of the year. Bernanke himself called the recovery "frustratingly slow" when he testified to Congress on July 17. Still, Bernanke says aggregate statistics can mask important information about how individual Americans are faring. His speech Monday was the latest foray into a relatively new specialty in economics known as "happiness studies." Bernanke attracted widespread notice when he spoke about the economics of happiness in a May 2010 commencement address at the University of South Carolina. In that speech, he said research has found that once basic material needs are met, more wealth doesn't necessarily make people happier. In his remarks Monday, Bernanke turned to the more practical -- and difficult -- task of measuring a subjective emotion. So far, most efforts have involved surveys in which people are asked about whether they are happy and what contributes to their happiness. Those surveys have found some consistent answers: physical and mental health, the strength of family and community ties, a sense of control over one's life, and opportunities for leisure activity. Bernanke sketched out a few other questions: How secure do Americans feel in their jobs? How confident are you in future job prospects? How prepared are families for financial shocks? These indicators "could be useful in measuring economic progress or setbacks as well as in explaining economic decision-making," Bernanke said. Bhutan's way ahead of us The Kingdom of Bhutan has been tracking happiness for four decades. The tiny Himalayan nation stopped tracking gross national product in 1972 and instead switched to measuring gross national happiness. According to the kingdom's official tourism website, the four main pillars of gross national happiness are equitable and equal socioeconomic development,?preservation and promotion of cultural and spiritual heritage,?conservation of environment and good governance. How Bernanke defines happiness Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's own definition of happiness might baffle some. He called it a "short-term state of awareness that depends on a person's perceptions of one's immediate reality, as well as on immediate external circumstances and outcomes." |