If you think £2m for a project without any policy implications is expensive, just imagine how expensive it would have been with policy implications.
– The IEA’s Kristian Niemitz on the Office for National Statistic’s venture in ‘happiness research’.
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Samizdata quote of the dayAugust 8th, 2012 |
 4 comments to Samizdata quote of the day |
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On point:
Happyism – The Creepy New Economics of Pleasure
Deirdre McCloskey; New Republic, June 08, 2012
Available online:
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/happyism-deirdre-mccloskey-economics-happiness
(Link)
Sorry – tested link, article now in “archives’ (still good, but long). So, when link page comes up click on archives in right margin. When that comes up type McCloskey in the search box (upper right). Her article is the first one.
Some effort, but so is the “happiness” from a good hamburger.
I have long said that far from wanting ‘value for money’ from government, I would prefer the state to take 90% of the tax they collect and just flush it down the toilet… or even just give it to civil servants with the expressed instruction to spend it on whisky and whores rather than on anything to do with ‘policy’. That would be vastly less destructive to the economy and society generally.
“Those who complain about the high cost of government should be glad we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for!” — Will Rogers