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Think money can't buy happiness? Think again
NBC's Today Show ^ | May 2, 2013 | Martha C. White

Posted on 05/03/2013 8:17:57 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

It turns out, rich people are happier than poor people.

A new Brookings Institution paper finds that people who live in rich countries are more satisfied with their lives than those in poor countries, and rich people within individual countries are happier than their poor neighbors.

That old “money can’t buy happiness” chestnut, formally called Easternlin’s paradox by economists after an influential 1974 study that concluded rich nations are no happier than poor ones, is such an enduring myth because it holds a lot of appeal, said Justin Wolfers, one of the paper’s authors, a nonresident fellow at Brookings and professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.

“I think it’s incredibly comforting to believe in it,” he said. “You can believe that people who live in grinding poverty… are just as happy as you are.”

Previously, some economists predicted that even if greater wealth meant greater happiness, it was only true up to a point. Once you reached a set point of satiation, extra money wouldn’t matter.

“People are good at making the best of what they have. The way we deal with our emotions is quite adaptive,” said Hal Hershfield, an assistant professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business....

(Excerpt) Read more at lifeinc.today.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: economy; poverty; wealth
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; a fool in paradise
Money can buy...

... and that's quite 'nuff!

21 posted on 05/03/2013 9:59:53 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: sickoflibs

Money can’t buy happiness, but if you’re already miserable, your life will be a helluva lot easier.


22 posted on 05/03/2013 10:32:51 PM PDT by paltz
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Hi 2ndDivisionVet,

To the Leftist mind, the idea that rich people are no happier than poor people must go away. Their narrative is “rich people are partying while the poor suffer”, so of course rich people must be happier than poor people. And unfairly so. And they need to pay their fair share, and you know the rest...

23 posted on 05/03/2013 10:44:55 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (....Let It Burn....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Whoever said "Money can't buy happiness" doesn't know where to shop.

Regards,

24 posted on 05/04/2013 1:07:46 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

bookmark


25 posted on 05/04/2013 2:23:15 AM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/lap_of_luxury_3Uiuv8GYpxqWfgC3d14FXL


26 posted on 05/04/2013 2:38:39 AM PDT by Daffynition (Stand Your Ground)
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To: Daffynition

I saw that the other night. 90,000 square feet? WTH?


27 posted on 05/04/2013 3:22:52 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I'll raise $2million for Sarah Palin's presidential run. What'll you do?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It’s one thing to answer a think-tank survey. It’s another thing to see these people react to the events of their lives on this planet. Riches grant no immunity to the unfairness of life. Let a rich person’s child contract some rare, incurable disease and see how fast the money gets burned thru. Riches provide options, not joy.


28 posted on 05/04/2013 3:26:26 AM PDT by Tonytitan
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Always think it's funny; Gets me every time.

The one about "Happiness and Money"; Tell it to the bread line."

"Get Lucky", by Mark Knopfler

29 posted on 05/04/2013 3:49:23 AM PDT by Reo (the 4th Estate is a 5th Column)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This is the bureaucratic state/ government workers with 3% unemployment gloating at the rest of us. F them.


30 posted on 05/04/2013 4:32:12 AM PDT by Track9 (hey Kalid.. kalid.. bang you're dead)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Dunno but Biltmore is approx. 178,000 square feet...so they have a ways to go to beat that.


31 posted on 05/04/2013 4:35:01 AM PDT by Daffynition (Stand Your Ground)
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To: paltz

Money can’t buy happiness, but no money can’t buy squat.


32 posted on 05/04/2013 4:40:46 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: Linda Frances

“It seems the only ones who survive are those grounded in strong faith.”

Praise the Lord, that is so true! My day’s off to a good start. Thanks!

:^)


33 posted on 05/04/2013 4:52:33 AM PDT by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
an influential 1974 study that concluded rich nations are no happier than poor ones

Good.

Then let's stop sending money we don't have to dictators in third world cess pits.
Especially those where the leadership and population hate our guts.


34 posted on 05/04/2013 5:01:32 AM PDT by Iron Munro
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To: Linda Frances

What are you saying, money makes you gay?


35 posted on 05/04/2013 5:08:54 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
As a guy told me once, "Life is like a sh!t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less shi!t you have to eat."

He was right.

36 posted on 05/04/2013 5:27:55 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (Buck Off, Bronco Bama)
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To: Tonytitan

At the risk of coming across like Chauncey Gardiner, freedom from want and economic worry, or even a cushion protecting you from it to an extent, creates room for happiness to grow and to spread, provided it’s already taken root. It’s not going to create it where none exists, though.


37 posted on 05/04/2013 6:39:40 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I could live with being miserable and rich, Money can’t buy happiness but... But it helps


38 posted on 05/04/2013 8:30:28 AM PDT by davemac.439
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Best line I EVER heard about this topic:

Money can’t buy you happiness, but, it DOES buy you ‘options’


39 posted on 05/04/2013 3:37:00 PM PDT by AllAmericanGirl44
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Money, however, does buy miniature giraffes.


40 posted on 05/04/2013 4:23:39 PM PDT by Benito Cereno
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