A case of affluenza
“Complex economic formulas developed by two professors of economics, Curtis Eaton and Mukesh Eswaran, and published in the current edition of the Economic Journal, suggest that greater affluence can seriously damage a nation’s health. Based on their mathematical modelling, the economists advance the theory that once a country reaches a reasonable standard of living there is little further benefit to be had from increasing the wealth of its population. Indeed, it could make people feel worse off.”
This is an extract from an article in today’s “Observer” newspaper which provides academic support to the commonsense view that, beyond a certain level, more money or more goods does not make individuals or societies happier.