Economists have basically claimed to have discovered the utilitarian calculus* and they say the unit of happiness is the dollar. In philosophy there’s a classic question about the idea of that calculus: what if there is one person who just really appreciates everything to the point that we generate more happiness by giving everything to them than we do by sharing everything around? It’s an outlandish hypothetical somehow made real by our economic metrics.
* A formula to numerically evaluate the good of all people to deliver the greatest good to the greatest number
