Models on the optimal design of monetary policy typically rely on a social welfare loss function defined over inflation and unemployment. Our estimates of such a function use measures of two different dimensions of well-being that have been distinguished by recent research. The first is...

The New Zealand government reacted to the coronavirus pandemic by implementing one of the world’s strictest lockdown regimes. We argue that the country deliberately took a ‘gross national happiness’ approach to the pandemic, emphasizing health and well-being outcomes over a narrower focus...