Prof John F. Helliwell is Co-director of the Social Interactions, Identity and Wellbeing program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a pioneer in the field of wellbeing measurement. He is one of the writers and driving forces behind the World Happiness Reports of the United Nations  - the most important publications in the field. As an economist, he has spent a lifetime on wellbeing research. Which lessons does he draw from the recent science of happiness?

Gus O'Donnell served Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. He was appointed to the House of Lords in January 2012. Lord O'Donnell spent most of his career with HM Treasury and was responsible for fiscal policy, international development, and European Union Economic and Monetary Union. Here he gives his inside perspective on the growing importance of wellbeing to UK public policy.