Prof Lord Layard joined the HLI board in 2024. He is one of the first economists to work on happiness, and his main current interest is how evidence on subjective wellbeing can lead to better public polices. He is a also a labour economist who has worked for much of his life on how to reduce unemployment and inequality. He was founder-director of LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, and is now director of the Centre’s programme on Wellbeing.