Description
Book SynopsisWhether watching baseball or undergoing heart surgery, Americans have bought a variety of goods and services to achieve happiness. Here is a provocative look at what they have chosen to purchase. Stanley Lebergott maintains that the average consumer has behaved more reasonably than many distinguished critics of "materialism" have suggested. He sees
Trade Review"Writing with lucidity, wit, and forthrightness ... Lebergott argues that the great American shopping spree is not mere self-indulgence but an essential part of what has been a remarkably successful pursuit of happiness."--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post "Lebergott ... entertainingly explores that history [of consumerism] and ... documents in marvelous detail what we buy, what it costs, and how our choices have changed over time"--Doug Bandow, Fortune "What did Americans consume during the 20th century, and what happiness did they reap? In addressing this question, the economist Stanley Lebergott, has written in effect two books. Pursuing Happiness is both an entertaining compilation of just what Americans consume and of how consumption patterns have changed, and a truculent ideological tract."--New York Times Book Review
Table of ContentsList of Tables and FigurePrefacePt. IEconomic Well-Being1Consumers and Their Critics32Happiness and Economic Welfare123Consumer Choice: Advertising164Consumer Choice: Externalities, Varieties215Consumption Inequality286Immortality and the Budget Constraint347Per Capita Consumption and the Angel of the Lord418Women's Work: Home to Market509Work, Overwork, and Consumer Spending6110More Goods: The Twentieth Century69Pt. IIMajor Trends, 1900-1990Food77Tobacco84Alcohol87Clothing90Shoes93Housing95Fuel104Domestic Service108Household Operation110Water117Lighting119Health121Transport128Recreation135Welfare140Religion142Postscript145Appendix A: Personal Consumption Table147Appendix B: Estimating Details165Works Cited171Index187
