A very perceptive essay! In our book "Attentive, Intelligent, Rational, Responsible: Transforming Economics to Save the Planet" John Raymaker and I focus on an alternative economic theory, which among other things, focuses on the standard of living as a goal for economics and policy overall.

I started to outline it on Medium, in several parts, starting here: https://pierrewhalon.medium.com/looking-for-a-economic-theory-thats-really-scientific-cdf6cf36ebae