The Korean Journal of Economic Studies
Happiness and the Social Economy: Focusing on the Argument Structure of Civil Economy
Sang Ho Lee (Dongguk University)Year 2020Vol. 68No. 1
Abstract
The Civil Economy provides an answer to Easterlin's paradox by suggestingeconomics of happiness based on relational goods. It emphasizes the socialeconomic sphere in which relational goods are produced and consumed, butdoes not deny the pursuit of private interests of the capitalist market economy.However the capitalist market economy is more likely to crowd out rather thanallow the restoration of the social economy sphere. If then, the validity of thecivil economy will depend on the possibility of coexistence of capitalist marketeconomy and social economy. And the same will be true of the logical andrealistic validity of the economics of happiness. Ultimately, this issue can besummarized as a question of how to restore and spread the social economysphere within the capitalist market economy.