A few weeks ago, the founder of well-being economic, Richard Easterlin died, at the age of 98. In 2019, I invited him out to NZ, as a Visiting Professor to Auckland University. He was interviewed by Liam Dann at the NZ Herald and had a degree of influence over this nation's approach to the pandemic, as recognized by the Beehive in June 2020, which includes a link to a Zoom interview that I did with him back then. Easterlin was the intellectual architect of former PM Ardern and Finance Minister Robertson's "well-being approach" and "well-being budgets". That approach has always been scorned by National and ACT, who regard it as a joke. It is no joke to me. Easterlin argued, with much evidence, that the main drivers of human happiness are high quality health & health-care, a satisfying job, and close support from a family group. Economic growth and an obsession with consumerism & materialism were not particularly important in his view. Why? Because he believed strongly, with lots to back him up, that human well-being depended not so much on how wealthy we are in absolute terms, but more on how wealthy we are compared to others.
One can view NZ as a country now divided into two halves - one pushing for economic growth - which has become the Coalition's sole focus now - versus another group who are not so obsessed with it and give greater weight to quality of life, work-life balance, and overall lifestyle. I'm not laughing, like the Coalition, at Easterlin's legacy. Aside from being a friend, he was a deep thinker. Don't most people live in NZ because, though they could become richer by going to live somewhere else, still prefer the overall quality of life here? The Coalition will not be re-elected on the basis that it fires up economic growth should it fail to fix the health-care system. In such a case, Kiwis will react at the ballot box with ferocious anger. It is why the Conservative government in the UK lost in a landslide that saw over a decade of Labour rule under Tony Blair. Should Kiwis see their overall quality of life being undermined during this government, that issue will reduce their support for the Coalition more than headline figures on how fast the overall economy grows. To the extent higher GDP is not shared around, it matters less to people.
So don't laugh too loud just yet should you support National or ACT about Easterlin's well-being economics. NZ is the 11th happiest nation in the world. Isn't that position more important than our GDP per capita ranking? We certainly do need to be more economically prosperous, but not to the extent we lose our lifestyle. Then it is certainly time to leave. Why, by the way, did PM Luxon say he is "wealthy" & "sorted & buy a bach on Waiheke? Why does he symbolize the view that after acquiring a boat, bach and BMW (in his case a Tesla) one is fine? In Silicon Valley in the US, a guy with Luxon's wealth would not stand out. But Luxon feels relatively wealthy in NZ. He wants to be King of his Ant Hill, rather than a small fish in a big pond. That is Easterlin's point. Luxon is thinking of his position compared to other Kiwis. He feels his life-style in NZ is great since his health is good (especially with his private health insurance), has a satisfying job, supportive wife & children, so feels "sorted". In the sense of valuing overall quality of life, Richard Easterlin was a huge fan of Kiwis. So go good with the Big Guy Upstairs, Richard, who probably shares your values.