The joyless economy : / an inquiry into human satisfaction and consumer dissatisfaction Tibor Scitovsky.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Plutocracy and Mob Rule 1. THE PSYCHOLOGY AND ECONOMICS OF MOTIVATION -- Chapter 2 Between Strain and Boredom --Chapter 3 The Pursuit of Novelty -- Chapter 4 Comfort Versus Pleasure -- Chapter 5 Enter Economics -- Chapter 6 Necessities and Comforts -- Chapter 7 Income and Happiness -- Chapter 8 Is Our Life Too Good? Chapter 9 Is It Too Dull? -- Chapter 10 Our Puritan Ghost -- Chapter 11 Our Disdain for Culture -- Chapter 12 What's Wrong with Mass Production? -- Chapter 13 What's Wrong with Specialization?

A consumer is more than a mere shopping cart One's welfare depends on much else besides what and how much one buys. That obvious truth is all too often forgotten, and economists are remiss in letting us forget it. The Joyless Economy sets out to correct that situation by looking at the whole person and probing all our needs: for comfort, stimulation, and pleasure, which we seek in food, clothes, work, drugs, sex, violence, music, the Sunday drive, and much else. Scitovsky compares what psychologists have learned about human motivation through experiment with the models economists have constructed on the basis of consumers' buying patterns. He finds that the economists have more to learn and to revise. To right the balance, he has outlined a more adequate theory of human satisfaction, which he documents with statistics, ranging from the number of vacations we take to the amount of garbage we throw away.

"Altogether this is a brilliant contribution to welfare economics which, if it becomes as influential as it deserves, will give that subject a content which actually corresponds to its name."
-The Economist (London)

"The first book to make a serious attempt at incorporating basic psychological concepts and insights into economics in general and into its unsatisfactory theory of consumption in particular. The result is illuminating and often pathbreaking."

-Albert O. Hirschman, The Institute for Advanced Study.
"A novel and penetrating critique of American culture." -Kenneth J. Arrow, Harvard University

"A superb book, full of insights and vignettes that are immensely stimulating A book that one must absolutely read."
-Jagdish Bhagwati, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"For economists who can take a bit more novelty than provided by the average book in the field, this is a truly important one to read and teach from. We as economists would do well to reformulate our conventional modes of thought in the light of Scitovsky's findings." -Harvey Liebenstein, Harvard University

Tibor Scitovsky, formerly Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, is currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His books include Welfare and Competition, Mobilizing Resources for War, and Papers on Welfare and Growth.