Two Belgian economists show that different approaches to well-being can have practical consequences. Using average income, average life satisfaction, and average "equivalent income," Danes are more satisfied than they are wealthy while France is the opposite.

For policy purposes, ...

Understanding well-being based on feelings of satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness has two problems.

• The physical-condition neglect. Humans adapt to their circumstances, meaning the poor and sick can still be relatively happy.
• Valuation neglect.

This approach claims that both personal characteristics and social circumstances affect what people can achieve with a given amount of resources.

What really matters for well-being is what the person manages to do or to be. But well-being is more than that - it also includ...