Sulla Felicità in Economia. La teoria dei Beni Relazionali di Menger e Böhm-Bawerk (On Happiness in Economics. Menger’s and Böhm-Bawerk’s Theory of Relational Goods)

The “paradox of happiness in economics” has aroused a growing interest among scholars all over the world. In opulent societies, many people, despite an increase in income, declare themselves less happy. One explanation is that economic growth can destroy some “relational goods” (personal relationships, friendship, family, love) affecting happiness. Such an explanation is based on an historical interpretation: marginalism would have darkened the theme of happiness in economics. This work shows, however, that two great marginalists, Menger and Böhm-Bawerk, formulated a theory of “relational goods” that complicates, in Hirschman’s sense, the whole history of happiness in economics.