Loneliness is a big business issue that businesses would be well served to address, from pragmatice reasons. I don't think government should subsidize family, or subever, subsidized religion. Companies of fire fighters who ate together performed twice as well as those who didn't. It's not something that corporations foist on as to be cruel, or neo liberal theorists oist on us. It's in the air and the water we breathe. And it's up to us to change it.
Author and economist Noreena Hertz of University College London talks about her book, The Lonely Century, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Hertz blames social media and the individualist, pro-capitalism worldviews of leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan for the rise in loneliness in the developed world. Russ suggests some alternative causes. The result is a lively conversation about understanding and explaining social trends.