Peter Richard Grenville Layard, Baron Layard FBA (born 15 March 1934) is a British labour economist, currently working as programme director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
His early career focused on how to reduce unemployment and inequality. He was Senior Research Officer for the famous Robbins Committee on Higher Education. This committee's report led to the massive expansion of UK university education in the 1960s and 1970s.
He was one of the first economists to work on happiness, with one theme being the importance of non-income variables on aggregate happiness, including mental health.
His main current interest is how better mental health could improve our social and economic life. His work on mental health, including publishing The Depression Report in 2006, led to the establishment of the UK Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT). He co-edited the 2012 World Happiness Report.Continue Reading »
