Wellbeing economics : how and why economics needs to change / Nicky Pouw.

Also published as: Welzijnseconomie: hoe en waarom de economie moet veranderen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. Economics (really) needs to change -- 3. A focus on wellbeing -- Wellbeing versus welfare -- The three dimensions of wellbeing -- Economic choices from a wellbeing perspective -- 4. What is economics? -- i. The economy as an institutionalized allocation process -- ii. The economy is open to influences from the `outside' -- iii. The economy is structured and layered -- iv. The economy is connected by internal relations -- v. The economy is characterized by emergent properties -- 5. The Wellbeing Economics Matrix (WEM) -- 6. Implications for methodology -- A place for post-positivism in economics -- George Akerlof and information asymmetry -- Thomas Piketty and growing inequality -- Room for alternatives -- Objective and subjective values -- Economic choices are complex -- Analysing intersections and interconnectedness in an inter-layered matrix -- How to handle emergent and evolving properties -- 7. A focus on inequality -- Growing inequality -- Inequality as an important economic measure -- Analysing inequality in the WEM -- Associative thinking -- 8. A sustainable economy -- Nine planetary boundaries -- The recycling economy and the circular economy -- The doughnut economy -- Natural resource discounting -- 9. New indicators -- Broader economic indicators and measures -- 10. Looking ahead.

Amidst rising global inequality, migration, climate change, health pandemics, and deepening poverty, it is time to redirect our economy towards more sustainable and socially just processes and outcomes. In Wellbeing Economics Nicky Pouw puts forward a new framework that places human wellbeing at the centre, instead of economic growth. She postulates ten reasons why economics should change to remain a relevant discipline and develops a Wellbeing Economic Matrix (WEM) to implement this approach. In doing so, it is one of the first economics books that 'rethinks the economy' from head to tail.