ABSTRACT
In wealthier parts of the world, political publics seem to be mesmerised by the ‘economy’ and particularly by economic ‘growth’. Specifically, economic inequality can be changed through politics, and there are reasons to think that reducing inequality would impact on the socio-cultural life of a society in ways that would change the values and the experiences of people in that society. Common sense would lead us to think that all kinds of problems are worse in poor societies than in wealthy ones, that the overall wealth of a nation is the most fundamental factor in determining the quality of life and contentment it can offer its citizens. The affluence of the developed world sometimes seems to be a curse rather than a blessing. So instead of comparing nations in terms of their overall wealth, Wilkinson and Pickett approached the question of wealth and well-being from a different angle.
