Money can buy happiness
economist.com
Money can buy happiness
1–10 of 172 posts
Re: Money can buy happiness
#2This seems obvious. Having no money is very stressful. Stress not only makes you generally very unhappy - it actually damages your brain (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15511597). Stress is an unhealthy thing to experience, especially when it is constant and your mind and body do not have time to recover. In small doses, a little stress keeps you moving, but its benefits drop off pretty quickly the more stress you experience.
Thus it stands to reason that if a major source of stress is removed (a lack of financial stability) that your overall happiness level goes up.
Re: Money can buy happiness
#3The income scale is logarithmic, so the apparently linear lines that you see are actually curved. The returns in happiness per $ earned fall off significantly towards the top of the scale (which incidentally is capped at a fairly low $128,000). I don't really see how this new data contradicts the generally accepted view (mentioned in the article) that money increases happiness up to a point.
Re: Money can buy happiness
#4In regards to subjective happiness and income, I like to pose the question:
Would you rather earn $80,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $100,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $80,000. Money and happiness is entirely subjective according to your environment.
Re: Money can buy happiness
#5In regards to subjective happiness and income, I like to pose the question: Would you rather earn $80,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $100,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $80,000. Money and happiness is entirely subjective according to your environment.
I guess you mean: "Would you rather earn $800,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $1,000,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $80,000."
Re: Money can buy happiness
#6The richest in India are less happy than Brazil's poorest.
But leave it to the economist to find that money makes you happy while ignoring that some countries seem much happier.
If you were to pick a country where you could randomly end up anywhere on the income scale, which would you pick? Of the countries listed, I'd pick the United States, followed by Brazil, Britain and Mexico.
Re: Money can buy happiness
#7The income scale is logarithmic, so the apparently linear lines that you see are actually curved. The returns in happiness per $ earned fall off significantly towards the top of the scale (which incidentally is capped at a fairly low $128,000). I don't really see how this new data contradicts the generally accepted view (mentioned in the article) that money increases happiness up to a point.
> incidentally is capped at a fairly low $128,000
Maybe they don't have data for people making more than that? There are relatively few people with incomes that high, and their time is probably valuable enough that they're disinclined to waste it filling out happiness inventories.
Re: Money can buy happiness
#8In regards to subjective happiness and income, I like to pose the question: Would you rather earn $80,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $100,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $80,000. Money and happiness is entirely subjective according to your environment.
I guess you mean: "Would you rather earn $800,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $1,000,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 and live in a neighbourhood of those earning $80,000."
Yes I think that's how it went!
Re: Money can buy happiness
#9Maybe it can't buy happiness, but it can definitely rent it.
Re: Money can buy happiness
#10The richest in India are less happy than Brazil's poorest. But leave it to the economist to find that money makes you happy while ignoring that some countries seem much happier. If you were to pick a country where you could randomly end up anywhere on the income scale, which would you pick? Of the countries listed, I'd pick the United States, followed by Brazil, Britain and Mexico.
Why not Australia or Canada?