Happyreader's review
The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth
by Mark Anielski
I can't get over the name of that book. Is it a joke?
Ah, I see, I should ave read the book description first.
Naw, it's written by a Canadian economist who thinks that the real purpose of the economy is to create more meaningful lives rather than than just blind growth and accumulation of more stuff.
Those crazy Canadians.
It sounds like a good book to give to a quasi-friend of ours who reads only books that can help him control others and his own life. Needless to say, he's a miserable millionaire.
His response to Frank's asking if he'd stop cheating on his partner once they were married:
"Sure I would. It's all about cost-benefit analysis. There's more to lose once you're married, so no, I won't cheat."
Really.
That's so romantic. He should add those sentiments to his vows.
All his girlfriends have crushes on Frank because, well, he's such a decent (and handsome) guy. This makes his friend really insecure, though Frank doesn't pose any threat, not only because he's not interested (or so I convince myself) but because these women would never care for someone who's always on the edge financially. Frank's the aspiring-writer boyfriend women can't commit to in chick lit novels, who is revealed to be an heir at the end of the novel (or sells his book and is taken seriously in the nick of time). Chick lit is just too depressing for me.
Happyreader's review
The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth by Mark Anielski
Happyreader's review
rating:
bookshelves:
money,
progressive-thinking
Lovely sentiments written by a good-hearted Canadian economist. Unfortunately, the book just didn't work for me. Too fuzzy to hold my attention.
The premise of the book is that we should be measuring wealth by how well it helps us and our communities live in concert with our values. No argument there. What I was looking for is how can our economic system be set up so that what needs to be funded gets funded, like healthcare and assistance to the poor. What I got instead were fuzzy sentiments about how true wealth is enjoying your life (perhaps that's revolutionary for economists) and a focus on creating economic indicators to measure how happy we really are.
One interesting chapter towards the end on Money and Genuine Wealth focused on what money really is but even that chapter veers into idealistic language and talks about the banker returning to a more noble role in the community.
Apparently in this new economy, there are no baser instincts and the sub-prime lenders and...more
The premise of the book is that we should be measuring wealth by how well it helps us and our communities live in concert with our values. No argument there. What I was looking for is how can our economic system be set up so that what needs to be funded gets funded, like healthcare and assistance to the poor. What I got instead were fuzzy sentiments about how true wealth is enjoying your life (perhaps that's revolutionary for economists) and a focus on creating economic indicators to measure how happy we really are.
One interesting chapter towards the end on Money and Genuine Wealth focused on what money really is but even that chapter veers into idealistic language and talks about the banker returning to a more noble role in the community.
Apparently in this new economy, there are no baser instincts and the sub-prime lenders and...more
I can't get over the name of that book. Is it a joke?
Ah, I see, I should ave read the book description first.
Naw, it's written by a Canadian economist who thinks that the real purpose of the economy is to create more meaningful lives rather than than just blind growth and accumulation of more stuff.
Those crazy Canadians.
It sounds like a good book to give to a quasi-friend of ours who reads only books that can help him control others and his own life. Needless to say, he's a miserable millionaire. His response to Frank's asking if he'd stop cheating on his partner once they were married:
"Sure I would. It's all about cost-benefit analysis. There's more to lose once you're married, so no, I won't cheat."
Really.
That's so romantic. He should add those sentiments to his vows.
All his girlfriends have crushes on Frank because, well, he's such a decent (and handsome) guy. This makes his friend really insecure, though Frank doesn't pose any threat, not only because he's not interested (or so I convince myself) but because these women would never care for someone who's always on the edge financially. Frank's the aspiring-writer boyfriend women can't commit to in chick lit novels, who is revealed to be an heir at the end of the novel (or sells his book and is taken seriously in the nick of time). Chick lit is just too depressing for me.