Well-Being Economics – From Slogan to Discipline?; Comment on “Can a Well-Being Economy Save Us?”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Abstract

This commentary addresses Ronald Labonté’s recent editorial, “can a well-being economy save us?” It considers how to assess whether well-being economy policy proposals are likely to achieve real change, or simply represent performative sloganeering. It considers Labonté’s discussion of the congruence between the well-being economy and widely held, cross-cultural values. Finally it explores the relationship between “well-being economics” and the key heterodox economic disciplines it has sprung from, especially ecological and feminist economics; and explores the relationship of well-being economics with degrowth and post-growth economics as policy goals and models, rather than disciplines. Ultimately, a well-being economy can only “save us” if it is fully guided by and constrained within the same hard ecological constraints that must also guide degrowth or post-growth policy prescriptions. 

Keywords

References

  1. Labonté R. Can a well-being economy save us? Int J Health Policy Manag. 2024;13:8507. doi:34172/ijhpm.8507
  2. World Health Organization (WHO). Health for All: Transforming Economics to Deliver What Matters - Final Report. Geneva: WHO; 2023.
  3. World Health Organization (WHO). Achieving Well-Being: A Global Framework for Integrating Well-Being into Public Health Utilizing a Health Promotion Approach. Geneva: WHO; 2023.
  4. Dixson-Declève S, Gaffney O, Ghosh J, Randers J, Rockstrom J, Stoknes PE. Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity. Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers; 2022.
  5. Commonwealth of Australia. Budget Paper No. 1: Statement 4 Measuring What Matters. Canberra: The Treasury, Commonwealth of Australia; 2022.
  6. Coscieme L, Sutton P, Mortensen LF, et al. Overcoming the myths of mainstream economics to enable a new wellbeing economy. Sustainability. 2019;11(16):4374. doi:3390/su11164374
  7. McCartney G, Hensher M, Trebeck K. How to measure progress towards a wellbeing economy: distinguishing genuine advances from 'window dressing'. Public Health Res Pract. 2023;33(2):3322309. doi:17061/phrp3322309
  8. The Treasury New Zealand. Budget Policy Statement 2024. Wellington: The Treasury New Zealand; 2024.
  9. Jansen A, Wang R, Behrens P, Hoekstra R. Beyond GDP: a review and conceptual framework for measuring sustainable and inclusive wellbeing. Lancet Planet Health. 2024;8(9):e695-e705. doi:1016/s2542-5196(24)00147-5
  10. Papa F. Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum of the Holy Father Francis to All People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis. Rome: The Holy See; 2023.
  11. Dávila MT. The option for the poor in Laudato Si’: connecting care of creation with care for the poor. In: Miller VJ, ed. The Theological and Ecological Vision of Laudato Si’: Everything is Connected. London: Bloomsbury; 2017.
  12. Taylor C. A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 2007.
  13. Hickel J, Kallis G, Jackson T, et al. Degrowth can work - here's how science can help. Nature. 2022;612(7940):400-403. doi:1038/d41586-022-04412-x
  14. Daly H. Steady-State Economics: The Economics of Biophysical Equilibrium and Moral Growth. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman & Co; 1977.
  15. Jackson T. The post-growth challenge: secular stagnation, inequality and the limits to growth. Ecol Econ. 2019;156:236-246. doi:1016/j.ecolecon.2018.10.010
  16. Hensher M. The economics of the wellbeing economy: Understanding heterodox economics for health-in-all-policies and co-benefits. Health Promot J Austr. 2023;34(3):651-659. doi:1002/hpja.764

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 25 October 2024
  • Revise Date: 12 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 13 November 2024
  • First Publish Date: 16 November 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics