Description

Over the past decade, many researchers have collected data on human happiness in an effort to understand how we can get more of it as individuals, communities, and as a nation. A persistent finding in all of the available evidence is that religious faith is the single most important determinant in predicting life satisfaction. This presentation lays out the evidence on faith and happiness. It shows how the religiosity of Americans, through happiness, is a key to our national character, prosperity, and strength.

Short bio of the speaker

Arthur C. Brooks is Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and Whitman School of Management. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Brooks earned his PhD in Public Policy Analysis from the Rand Graduate School in 1998, and also holds an MA and BA in economics. Mr. Brooks has published approximately 100 articles and books on the connections between culture, politics, and economic life in America. He speaks frequently in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Portfolio, and other publications. Gross National Happiness is Mr. Brooks’ seventh book, and his second for popular audiences. His 2006 book on American charitable giving, Who Really Cares, was critically acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as a "lucidly written, carefully distilled and persuasively cogent work, a tidy time-bomb of a book.” Mr. Brooks was invited to the White House to brief President George W. Bush and the First Lady on Who Really Cares in February 2007.