> Another point is that there may be other moral imperatives to consider, which
> are more important than happiness. Happiness is usually rooted in mere
> biology, and IMHO is a shallow goal for human beings. But that is another
> discussion entirely. It is probably outside the realm of economics.
What could possibly be more important than happiness (except of course
survival)? Wouldn't a life devoid of positive stimulation ("happiness") be
utterly pointless?
As for the economic matter: automate to the max with as ultimate goal
free-for-all production of anything, while reducing the population (a billion people
is more than enough, and a tenth or a hundredth of that would be fine too).
Quality over quantity. That's the *rational* course of action, anyway.