The Power of Hope: How the Science of Well-Being Can Save Us from Despair

(Hardback)

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Why hope matters as a metric of economic and social well-being

In a society marked by extreme inequality of income and opportunity, why should economists care about how people feel The truth is that feelings of well-being are critical metrics that predict future life outcomes. In this timely and innovative account, economist Carol Graham argues for the importance of hopelittle studied in economics at presentas an independent dimension of well-being. Given Americas current mental health crisis, thrown into stark relief by COVID, hope may be the most important measure of well-being, and researchers are tracking trends in hope as a key factor in understanding the rising numbers of deaths of despair and premature mortality.

Graham, an authority on the study of well-being, points to empirical evidence demonstrating that hope can improve peoples life outcomes and that despair can destroy them. These findings, she argues, merit deeper exploration. Graham discusses the potential of novel well-being metrics as tracking indicators of despair, reports on new surveys of hope among low-income adolescents, and considers the implications of the results for the futures of these young adults.

Graham asks how and why the wealthiest country in the world has such despair. What are we missing She argues that public policy problemsfrom joblessness and labor force dropout to the lack of affordable health care and inadequate public educationcant be solved without hope. Drawing on research in well-being and other disciplines, Graham describes strategies for restoring hope in populations where it has been lost. The need to address despair, and to restore hope, is critical to Americas future.

Reviews

"Graham uses empirical evidence to demonstrate why hope is a good metric for measuring economic and social well-being. . . . Drawing on research in the disciplines of economics, sociology, and psychology, Graham addresses the critical problem of despair and proposes ideas on how to restore hope in America. . . . Of great interest to scholars and general readers alike." * Library Journal *

Author Bio

Carol Graham is the interim vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution and College Park Professor at the University of Maryland. She is the author of Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires; The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being; Happiness for All Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream (Princeton); and other books, as well as numerous articles in academic journals.