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Title details for The Power of Hope by Carol Graham - Available

The Power of Hope

How the Science of Well-Being Can Save Us from Despair

by Carol Graham
Katherine Fenton
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
This audiobook narrated by Katherine Fenton reveals why hope matters as a metric of economic and social well-being In a society marked by extreme inequality of income and opportunity, why should economists care about how people feel? The truth is that feelings of well-being are critical metrics that predict future life outcomes. In this timely and innovative account, economist Carol Graham argues for the importance of hope—little studied in economics at present—as an independent dimension of well-being. Given America's current mental health crisis, thrown into stark relief by COVID, hope may be the most important measure of well-being, and researchers are tracking trends in hope as a key factor in understanding the rising numbers of "deaths of despair" and premature mortality. Graham, an authority on the study of well-being, points to empirical evidence demonstrating that hope can improve people's life outcomes and that despair can destroy them. These findings, she argues, merit deeper exploration. Graham discusses the potential of novel well-being metrics as tracking indicators of despair, reports on new surveys of hope among low-income adolescents, and considers the implications of the results for the futures of these young adults. Graham asks how and why the wealthiest country in the world has such despair. What are we missing? She argues that public policy problems—from joblessness and labor force dropout to the lack of affordable health care and inadequate public education—can't be solved without hope. Drawing on research in well-being and other disciplines, Graham describes strategies for restoring hope in populations where it has been lost. The need to address despair, and to restore hope, is critical to America's future.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 25, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780691251219
      • File size: 146761 KB
      • Duration: 05:05:45

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      March 1, 2023

      Graham (public policy, Univ. of Maryland; Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream) uses empirical evidence to demonstrate why hope is a good metric for measuring economic and social well-being and to argue that the U.S. has a disproportionally large amount of despair, much of it caused by public policies that create insecurity, joblessness, and a lack of affordable health care and education, all of which make it difficult for some to meet even their basic needs. Drawing on research in the disciplines of economics, sociology, and psychology, Graham addresses the critical problem of despair and proposes ideas on how to restore hope in America. One idea she asks readers to consider is that hope helps one recover from setbacks, and it establishes a strong foundation for resilience. Graham argues that despair is eroding society and democracy and creating long-lasting consequences on productivity and potential. VERDICT This public policy book belongs in social behavioral science collections and will be of great interest to scholars and general readers alike.--Claude Ury

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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