One of the columnists in the New Statesman magazine is Professor David Blanchflower, of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA and the University of Stirling, Scotland. I’m no expert in economics but since my son is a student of it, I’ve tried to grasp the fundamentals, which Professor “Danny” Blanchflower is excellent at providing.
A recent column (9 November 2009) was entitled “Happiness is U-shaped“, which I initially didn’t associated with my own research, but after some pondering did. Prof. Blanchflower is the guru of happiness economics, which in the current climate must require a great deal of faith or optimism.
The question posed in Prof. Blanchflower’s surveys is – ” On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with the life you lead?” The first point for me that this is a four point scale with no middle ground for fence-sitting, the second point is that this is not much different from asking people about the service they are getting and whether they are satisfied.
More support for a simple satisfaction measure, if I’m not mistaken.
The Great E-mancipator 
Interesting insight!
Isn’t the really important question “Given where we are and what we have, what can we do to be happy and live a happier, more meaningful life?”
We interviewed and studied what we term Habitually Happy People from many different walks of life and life situations.
Many of the people we talked to were suffering job loss, terminal illnesses and major life challenges but the still managed to be happy and enjoy life.
We believe that if you decide to embrace the values, beliefs, habits, ideals and boundaries characteristic of happy thought you too can be happy or happier irrespective of your life situation.
Our goal is to share these key happiness engendering qualities in simple terms that are easy to remember and apply.
Explore Happiness Blog – http://HappinessBlog.com for samples of our perspectives.
Michele Moore
HappinessBlog.com
HappinessHabit.com