Happiness & Public Policy

I’m quoted in this morning’s LA Times (I think the piece is front page) in an article on happiness research. Unfortunately, I am quoted rather exactly, and therefore come off somewhat lacking in gravitas:

"Most of the things that have been published about the policy implications of happiness research have definitely had a big-government slant to it. They’re like, ‘Here’s another reason for the government to do something else,’ " said Will Wilkinson, a policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute.

Now, I stand by the quote! They are in fact totally like "Here’s another reason for the government to do something else." Ah! The vernacular. Anyway, I really enjoyed chatting with the author Stu Silverstein over the phone. And showing up in an article between Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Richard Easterlin is more than all right by me.