Thursday, November 6, 2008

Notions of well-being

In responding to one of my favourite bloggers, myop101 in the preceding post, I was reminded of the importance of the notion of well-being and happiness that underlies most, if not all, original economic thinking. This is a principle which another favourite blogger of mine, etheorist, is sagely and very wise in.

http://flamegallery.com/resources/ContentmentFront.jpg.

In the pursuit of all things modern and state-of-the-art and the attendant bling effect, we often forget to examine in a holistic manner whether our well-being has improved or, that we remain happy.

The wisdom of the Beatles song remains as relevant as ever, Money can't buy me love.

12 comments:

walla said...

"Money can't buy me love."

Really? ;P

As i was doing the previous post, i was reminiscing those days long gone when i delved into the economics of information networking.

Then popped the thought- 'what about the economics of happiness?'

Lo behold - someone wrote 'notions of well-being'

so it remains:

http://tinyurl.com/6oc3k2

More accurate intuition than those financial engineering equations..

de minimis said...

walla

:D. I never cease to be amazed at how you keep pulling rabbits out of that magic box of yours. Good paper and an interesting thesis.

walla said...

poor man, you've been deprived for too long..sigh!

;P

http://tinyurl.com/5wchs5
http://tinyurl.com/6rthnt
http://tinyurl.com/6nhxf6
http://tinyurl.com/ewb8q

shaken and/or stirred?

de minimis said...

Ai-yoh. Got surveys and online tests. I think I'm going to be distressed and unhappy after all the reading. I won't take the test. I'll just sit at the patio and just look at the blue sky, the waving trees with my tea while avoiding any birds' droppings :D

walla said...

The aussies, singaporeans and others have fought for that little turf called Papua New Guinea.

Guana bird droppings there, best natural fertilizer in the world.

what are we doing with our remaining lives, de minimis?

de minimis said...

The prospect of you and I wearing our sarongs - maybe with brother sak...if he doesn't return to mainstream politics ... hopefully with us riding on his sarong ;) - and digging guano is a lousy way to end our days :D

Besides, the island nation of Nauru had so much birdshit on their island which made them a "shit-load" of money that they thought "tommorrow never ends". Years later (today) their land mass is smaller and all the birdshit has been dugged up. It has led many to infer that birdcrap is not unlimited (although many in Klang who dodge the "missiles" from crows tend to believe otherwise).

Maybe it would be better if you came to my patio and have a cuppa ... bring an umbrella just in case!

walla said...

You're talking about the resource curse, i presume?

We too are suffering from that, although there are some who continue to want the rakyat not to ponder too much about it.

Just think, a precipitate drop in oil price within months, and pump-priming has to be executed and money borrowed using the rakyat's minute retirement savings to shore up some GLC shares.

Where's the national buffer and international competitiveness to execute resilience and buoyancy over crisis after crisis?

Actually, in plain language, where has all the money gone?

All these ruminations are so counterproductive for those in their twilight years, innit?

Stuff that backpack with the litebook, pick up the passport, catch the next plane out wherever the LCD lights up and land in some unknown country where you can survey the history and culture of the nooks and crannies of the changing world, trudge to the nearest seedy hotel, have a cozy bath, read a nice book, surf an interesting site, enjoy a blisteringly hot and strong cappucino while savoring the full flavor of a gitane, and get laid while out on the window sill a nightingale sings a melodious tune to wash away the last dregs of the load of worries and tribulations of indifferent lives.

Do you have that on your patio?

(;P)

de minimis said...

bro

Those are steep demands and, I'm not too sure about the seedy hotel. But bring the gitanes and maybe I can whistle up two "nightingales" to flutter around us while we sip any beverage of your choice...but not at the patio...the wife wouldn't approve of the non-avian variety ;)

walla said...

you're on; email from your yahoo your location; maybe this will help:

http://tinyurl.com/mpzto

de minimis said...

walla

I'm not quite clear where to email the coordinates to. Some guidance please.

walla said...

look into your yahoo mailbox for the most suspicious looking series of mails.

the ones with the humungous attachments.

sigh..economists.

;P

de minimis said...

Sadly it must have gone into the spam section which I don't even bother to look at. Perhaps you might be able to re-send?