The economy’s contribution to human welfare – its magnitude, nature and components – is well known, well measured, and much discussed. What we lack, however, is an understanding of the economy’s place in the total scheme of human satisfactions. Why is it that some satisfactions depend on economic activity while others do not and are kept out of the market altogether? In answering this question, Scitovsky compares the economy’s contribution with that of all other sources in order to attain a balanced perspective.
