The 10 Things Economics Can Tell Us About Happiness
Money can buy happiness, but up to what point? And does working more make us miserable? And will you be happier if you start your own company?
The Atlantic
1) Generally speaking, richer countries are happier countries (see above). But since many of these rich countries share other traits — they’re mostly democracies with strong property rights traditions, for example — some studies suggest that it’s our institutions that are making us happy, not just the wealth. More on that in a second.
2) Generally speaking, richer people are happier people. But young people and the elderly appear less influenced by having more money.
3) But money has diminishing returns — like just about everything else. Satisfaction rises with income until about $75,000 (or perhaps as high as $120,000). After that, researchers have had trouble proving that more money makes that much of a difference. Other factors — like marriage quality and health — become more relatively important than money.
Read the rest. [Image: new economics foundation]