Richard Layard

Evidence and Ethics

Can We Be Happier?

P. Richard G. Layard

Draws on a range of scientific research in such fields as psychology, sociology, and applied economics that reveals how everyday people are no happier than they were fifty years ago in spite of higher wages, in a study that seeks to define happiness while identifying its causes and the means that are available to everyday individuals to pursue and acquire happiness. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.

Lessons from a New Science

Happiness

Peter R. G. Layard

'Unorthodox, devastatingly straightforward and more provocative of actual thought than 99% of books said to be 'thought-provoking'' ANDREW MARR ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY? Today most of us are richer, healthier, have better homes, cars, food and holidays than ever before. But are we any happier than we were fifty years ago? It seems that as incomes rise, the urge to compare ourselves to others constantly increases too. What is going on? Richard Layard delves into philosophy, economics, the latest psychological research and his experience as a policy adviser to examine the happiness conundrum, exploring questions such as: What are the main causes of happiness - and which matters most? What should we do differently to live more happily? Does helping people help us to be happy? Does success count - or just being more successful than others? How can we control our moods? Offering some surprising answers, he shows us how we can give ourselves the tools to boost the happiness we all want, in our daily lives and even as a society. 'An impassioned plea that the pursuit of contentment be placed centre stage ...... should be required reading' GUARDIAN

Lessons from a New Science (Second Edition)

George Ward

Nattavudh Powdthavee

Andrew E. Clark

Sarah Flèche

A new perspective on life satisfaction and well-being over the life course What makes people happy? The Origins of Happiness seeks to revolutionize how we think about human priorities and to promote public policy changes that are based on what really matters to people. Drawing on a range of evidence using large-scale data from various countries, the authors consider the key factors that affect human well-being, including income, education, employment, family conflict, health, childcare, and crime. The Origins of Happiness offers a groundbreaking new vision for how we might become more healthy, happy, and whole.

The Science of Well-Being over the Life Course

The Origins of Happiness

Andrew Clark

David Clark

A ground-breaking argument for better treatment of mental health from Richard Layard (author of Happiness) and David M. Clark.Britain has become a world leader in providing psychological therapies thanks to the work of Richard Layard and David Clark. But, even so, in Britain and worldwide the majority of people who need help still don't get treatment. This is both unjust and a false economy.This book argues for change. It shows that mental ill-health causes more of the suffering in our society than physical illness, poverty or unemployment. Moreover, greater spending on helping people to recover from mental health problems - and stay well - would generate massive savings to national economies, as those who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders account for nearly a half of all disability and are predominantly of working age. Modern talking therapies, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), are highly effective, and if more sufferers got these treatments, lives would be turned around and the cost would be fully covered by the huge savings.Thrive explores the new effective solutions to the misery and injustice caused by mental illness. It describes how successful psychological treatments have been developed and explains what works best for whom. It also urges us to do all we can to prevent these problems in the first place, through better schools and a better society. And, most importantly, it offers real hope. 'This book is an inspiring success story and a stirring call to further action. Its message is as compelling as it is important: the social costs of mental illness are terribly high and the costs of effective treatments are surprisingly low' Daniel Kahneman'Extremely easy and pleasurable to read. It's the most comprehensive, humane and generous study of mental illness that I've come across' Melvyn Bragg'Remarkable . . . presents the issues in a style that easy for the professional, the general public, and policy makers to understand' Aaron T Beck'Professors Layard and Clark (the Dream Team of British Social Science) make a compelling case for a massive injection of resources into the treatment and prevention of mental illness. This is simply the best book on public policy and mental health ever written' Martin SeligmanRICHARD LAYARD is one of the world's leading labour economists, and in 2008 received the IZA International Prize for Labour Economics. A member of the House of Lords, he has done much to raise the public profile of mental health. His 2005 book Happiness has been translated into 20 languages.DAVID M. CLARK, Professor of Psychology at Oxford, is one of the world's leading experts on CBT, responsible for much progress in treatment methods. With Richard Layard, he was the main driver behind the UK's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

The Power of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies

Thrive

Richard Jackman

S. J. Nickell

This broad survey of unemployment will be a major source of reference for both scholars and students.

Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market

Unemployment

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

What produces a happy society and a happy life? Thanks to the new science of wellbeing, we can now answer this question using state-of-the-art empirical evidence. This transforms our ability to base our decisions on the outcomes that matter most, namely the wellbeing of us all including future generations. Written by two of the world's leading experts on the economics of wellbeing, this book shows how wellbeing can be measured, what causes it and how it can be improved. Its findings are profoundly relevant to all social sciences, including psychology, economics, politics, behavioural science and sociology. A field-defining text on a new science that aims to span the whole of human life, this will be an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, policy-makers and employers, who can apply its insights in their professional and private lives. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Science and Policy

Wellbeing

Richard N. Cooper

This book considers how we might think intelligently about the future. Taking different methodological approaches, well-known specialists forecast likely future developments and trends in human life.

Insights from Social Science

What the Future Holds

Microeconomic Theory

Jeffrey Sachs

John F. Helliwell

The World Happiness Report reviews levels of happiness across developed and developing nations, and presents ranking tables on national and regional happiness.

World Happiness Report 2018

David M. Clark

A ground-breaking argument for better treatment of mental health from Richard Layard (author of Happiness) and David M. Clark. Britain has become a world leader in providing psychological therapies thanks to the work of Richard Layard and David Clark. But, even so, in Britain and worldwide the majority of people who need help still don't get treatment. This is both unjust and a false economy. This book argues for change. It shows that mental ill-health causes more of the suffering in our society than physical illness, poverty or unemployment. Moreover, greater spending on helping people to recover from mental health problems - and stay well - would generate massive savings to national economies, as those who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders account for nearly a half of all disability and are predominantly of working age. Modern talking therapies, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), are highly effective, and if more sufferers got these treatments, lives would be turned around and the cost would be fully covered by the huge savings. Thrive explores the new effective solutions to the misery and injustice caused by mental illness. It describes how successful psychological treatments have been developed and explains what works best for whom. It also urges us to do all we can to prevent these problems in the first place, through better schools and a better society. And, most importantly, it offers real hope. 'This book is an inspiring success story and a stirring call to further action. Its message is as compelling as it is important: the social costs of mental illness are terribly high and the costs of effective treatments are surprisingly low' Daniel Kahneman 'Extremely easy and pleasurable to read. It's the most comprehensive, humane and generous study of mental illness that I've come across' Melvyn Bragg 'Remarkable . . . presents the issues in a style that easy for the professional, the general public, and policy makers to understand' Aaron T Beck 'Professors Layard and Clark (the Dream Team of British Social Science) make a compelling case for a massive injection of resources into the treatment and prevention of mental illness. This is simply the best book on public policy and mental health ever written' Martin Seligman RICHARD LAYARD is one of the world's leading labour economists, and in 2008 received the IZA International Prize for Labour Economics. A member of the House of Lords, he has done much to raise the public profile of mental health. His 2005 book Happiness has been translated into 20 languages. DAVID M. CLARK, Professor of Psychology at Oxford, is one of the world's leading experts on CBT, responsible for much progress in treatment methods. With Richard Layard, he was the main driver behind the UK's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Rudiger Dornbusch

Modelled on the earlier assessments by the Brooking Institute, this book provides authoritative assessments of the British economy in its various aspects over the last 15 years. The book is intended for students and researchers in economic policy and policy-makers.

The Performance of the British Economy

Judy Dunn

Every day the newspapers lament the problems facing our children - broken homes, pressures to eat and drink, the stress of exams. The same issues are discussed in every pub and at every dinner party. But is life really more difficult for children than it was, and if so why? And how can we make it better? This book, which is a result of a two year investigation by the Children's Society and draws upon the work of the UK's leading experts in many fields, explores the main stresses and influences to which every child is exposed - family, friends, youth culture, values, and schooling, and will make recommendations as to how we can improve the upbringing of our children. It tackles issues which affect every child, whatever their background, and questions and provides solutions to the belief that life has become so extraordinarily difficult for children in general. The experts make 30 specific recommendations, written not from the point of view of academics, but for the general reader - above all for parents and teachers. We expect publication to be a major event and the centre of widespread media attention.

Searching for Values in a Competitive Age

A Good Childhood

Andrew J. Oswald

C. L. Gilbert

C. A. Greenhalgh

First published in 'The Review of Economic Studies' and 'Oxford Economic Papers', these essays consider the natural rate of unemployment, and attempt to explain its determinants within different frameworks.

The Causes of Unemployment

Paul R. Krugman

University Paul Krugman

Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Economic Performance Richard Layard

Olivier J. Blanchard

Ford International Professor of Economics Rudiger Dornbusch

East West Migration

Mental illness is a leading cause of suffering in the modern world. In sheer numbers, it afflicts at least 20 percent of people in developed countries. It reduces life expectancy as much as smoking does, accounts for nearly half of all disability claims, is behind half of all worker sick days, and affects educational achievement and income. There are effective tools for alleviating mental illness, but most sufferers remain untreated or undertreated. What should be done to change this? In Thrive, Richard Layard and David Clark argue for fresh policy approaches to how we think about and deal with mental illness, and they explore effective solutions to its miseries and injustices. Layard and Clark show that modern psychological therapies are highly effective and could potentially turn around the lives of millions of people at little or no cost. This is because treating psychological problems generates huge savings on physical health care, as well as massive economic savings through more people working. So psychological therapies would effectively pay for themselves, generating potential savings for nations the world over. Layard and Clark describe how various successful psychological treatments have been developed and explain what works best for whom. They also discuss how mental illness can be prevented through better schools and a better society, and the urgency of doing so. Illustrating why we cannot afford to ignore the issue of mental illness, Thrive opens the door to new options and possibilities for one of the most serious problems facing us today.

How Better Mental Health Care Transforms Lives and Saves Money

Mental ill-health causes more suffering in our society than physical illness, yet most people who need help don't get it. In Thriveleading mental health experts Richard Layard and David Clark show how evidence-based psychological treatments can bring huge human and economic benefits and, above all, hope. 'This book is an inspiring success story and a stirring call to further action.' Daniel Kahneman 'Remarkable . . . presents the issues in a style that easy for the professional, the general public, and policy makers to understand.' Aaron T. Beck 'An important book . . . the case the authors make for ending this neglect is unanswerable.' Martin Wolf, Financial Times, Books of the Year 'This is simply the best book on public policy and mental health ever written.' Martin Seligman 'Shout it from the rooftops.' Peter Fonagy, The Psychologist

From the bestselling author of Happiness and co-editor of the annual World Happiness Report Most people now realise that economic growth, however desirable, will not solve all our problems. Instead, we need a philosophy and a science which encompasses a much fuller range of human need and experience. This book argues that the goal for a society must be the greatest possible all round happiness, and shows how each of us can become more effective creators of happiness, both as citizens and in our own organisations. Written with Richard Layard's characteristic clarity, it provides hard evidence that increasing happiness is the right aim, and that it can be achieved. Its language is simple, its evidence impressive, its effect inspiring.

Richard Layard

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