WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve chairman said Monday that gauging happiness can be as important for measuring economic progress as determining whether inflation is low or unemployment high.
Economics isn’t just about money and material benefits, Ben Bernanke said. It is also about understanding and promoting “the enhancement of well-being.”
Bernanke and Fed policymakers rely on reports on hiring, consumer spending and other economic data when making high-stakes decisions about the $15 trillion U.S. economy. The Fed’s dual mandate is to maintain low inflation and full employment.
“We should seek better and more-direct measurements of economic well-being,” Bernanke said Monday in a recorded speech shown to a conference of economists and statisticians in Cambridge, Mass.
Bernanke acknowledged that many people aren’t very happy right now.
