“The object of economic policy is not to make people happy but to make them less unhappy.”
What this quote means
Nigel Lawson asserts that economic policy aims less at creating happiness than at reducing unhappiness. This quote resonates because it is realistic and modest: it acknowledges the limits of public action regarding happiness, which depends on personal factors. It applies in debates about government priorities: rather than promising an unattainable ideal, the goal is to alleviate concrete sufferings – unemployment, poverty, insecurity – and improve living conditions.
How to apply it daily
In your own decisions, focus on reducing sources of stress and dissatisfaction rather than chasing an abstract happiness.
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