NPR's Morning Edition interviewed Justin Wolfers in a segment about happiness in America and whether the U.S. should add such a measurement to its list of national statistics like GDP and unemployment.
How to ask people about happiness remains a key issue. Should the question relate to the here and now or life in general? The answers can all be measured, but are also be open for debate—just like measuring unemployment, Wolfers explained to NPR.
"Do you know how we measure unemployment? We go out and ask people if they're unemployed. Do you know how we measure happiness? We go out and we ask people if they're happy," Wolfers said. " It's actually kind of a hard question and it's very subjective."
[Listen to the full interview]
Justin Wolfers interviewed on NPR about happiness in America
February 8, 2013