The 2006 Brown Symposium (XXVIII) at Southwestern University presents the topic of “GNP or Gross National Well-being?” The 2006 Brown Symposium will focus on the latest theoretical research and findings on well-being from economics, neuroscience, and psychology. This symposium's intent is to encourage us to go beyond measuring well-being indirectly in terms of dollars or total consumption and to look deeper and assess societal and individual happiness by focusing on and measuring quality of life.

As you prepare for the Brown Symposium (XXVIII), below are a number of readings suggested by Dr. A.J. Senchack, holder of the Lucy King Brown Chair in International Business.

Books: (Each link directs you to the book on www.amazon.com)

Layard, Richard (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, Penguin.

Frey, Bruno S. and Alois Stutzer (2002). Happiness & Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Human Well-Being, Princeton Press.

Internet Articles: (Each link directs you to the article found online.)

Hinchberger, Bill (2004). "Measuring gross national...happiness," OneWorld.net, December 13.

Daneshkhu, S. (2005). "The 'dismal science' turns its attention to question of happiness," Financial Times, January 11.

These two articles detail how the tiny Himalayan country, Bhutan (aka "Shangri-La"), has developed and adopted "Gross National Happiness" as its national policy goal.

• Wangchuk, Norbu. (2003). "Gross national happiness (GNH): Practicing the philosophy," RIM Magazine, 1, January.
• "The pursuit of happiness," Economist, December 18, 2004, 55-57.

These two articles discuss attempts to develop national indices of well-being or happiness as supplements to or replacements of Gross National Product.

• Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators
• Colman, Ronald. (2005). "Expert summary of the genuine progress index." Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada.

A primer on neuroeconomics by Colin Camerer, Cal Tech economist: What is Neuroeconomics?"

Frequently asked questions about subjective well-being (happiness and life satisfaction) prepared by our lead speaker, Ed Diener.

Academic Journal Articles

Daedalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, has a special issue (Spring 2004) on "Happiness."

• Easterlin, Richard A. (2004). "The economics of happiness," Daedalus, Spring, 26-33.
• Frank, Robert H. (2004). "How not to buy happiness," Daedalus, Spring, 69-79.
• Biswas-Diener, Robert, Ed Diener and Maya Tamir (2004). "The psychology of subjective well-being," Daedalus, Spring, 18-25.

Diener, Ed, Eunkook Suh and Shigehiro Oishi. (1997). "Recent Findings on Subjective Well-Being," Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Frey, Bruno S. and Alois Stutzer. (2002). "What can economists learn from happiness research?" Journal of Economic Literature, July, 402-35.

Rabin, Matthew. (2002). "A perspective on psychology and economics," European Economic Review 46(4-5), May, 657-685.

Camerer, Colin, George Loewenstein, and Drazen Prelec (2003). Neuroeconomics: How Neuroscience Can Inform Economics, Cal Tech Working Paper.

For additional information, contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at alumni@southwestern.edu or by calling 1-800-960-6363.