Economic performance alone says little about how people in a country are doing. It’s time to think differently about prosperity and care more about the dissatisfied. Otherwise they will be driven into the arms of right-wing populists.
What should politics do for people? For a long time there seemed to be a simple compass: When the economy is running, the infrastructure is in place and social emergencies are being cushioned, everything seems to be in order. But a debate has been raging for some time as to whether this view is too one-dimensional. Above all, it is suggested that prosperity should not only be quantified in terms of economic performance. That’s why it’s good that for the first time a government research body is systematically measuring the satisfaction of Germans.