Does learning economics make you happy?

Economists, and those that have to bear with us, will agree that learning economics changes the way you look at the world. But will it make you happy?

For the sake of argument, forget the fact that economics degrees tend to make you rich, famous and popular with the sex of your preference. Forget that it can transform mere mortals to social analysis gods. Focusing purely on the ways in which learning economics alters the way you feel, should a rational, perfectly informed, utility-maximising individual choose to study economics?

Judging from my own experience, the answer is yes. Here's why:

1. I cherish my consumer surplus. I value most of the stuff I buy way more than what I have to pay for them; vanilla ice cream makes me happy beyond belief, and the same is true for the music of Dream Theater and the (soon to be purchased) Apple iphone. And what am I asked to pay for them? Peanuts.

2. I cherish my producer surplus. I am getting paid way, way more than the salary that would make me indifferent between supplying labour and staying at home.

3. I never have regrets: I did the best I could given the information available to me at the time. Judging I could have done better using information I acquired at a later date makes as much sense as regretting the existence of gravity. On a related topic, I understand the irrelevance of sunk costs.

4. While I do care for my welfare in relative terms, my welfare in absolute terms looms large in my utility function - and, boy, look how its value has been growing.

5. The selfishness of my fellow human beings does not make me anxious or depressed. Adam Smith (or was it Mandeville?) taught me that humans, selfish as they are, can make happy societies. And perhaps more to the point, they can make me happy.