Government’s role should be to increase happiness and reduce misery. Policy analysis must be recast to reflect outcomes in terms of changes to happiness

Happiness and well-being are central to every part of our lives, but how do we become happier as a society? Ahead of an LSE Centre for Economic Performance public debate, Richard Layard argues that the best societies are those with the most happiness and the least misery, and that public policy should be made on this basis.