Paternalism and well-being
- đ¤ Speaker: Prof. Avner Offer, University of Oxford
- đ Date & Time: Friday 16 January 2009, 13:00 - 14:00
- đ Venue: Large Seminar Room, 1st Floor, Institute of Public Health, University Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge
Abstract
Avner Offer is Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford. His recent work, ‘The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain since 1950’, argues that “well-being” has in fact lagged behind the increasing affluence of western societies: that “affluence breeds impatience, and impatience undermines well-being…the paradox of affluence and its challenge is that the flow of new rewards can undermine the capacity to enjoy them.” The central concepts are therefore future discount, “bounded rationality,” and myopia.
Series This talk is part of the Bradford Hill Seminars series.
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Prof. Avner Offer, University of Oxford
Friday 16 January 2009, 13:00-14:00