The Paradox Portal
Economic/Social

Easterlin Paradox

Rising income doesn't increase happiness beyond a point

Overview

An economic observation that happiness correlates with income within countries but not across countries or over time.

Within a country, richer people are happier. But as countries get richer over time, average happiness doesn't increase. And rich countries aren't much happier than middle-income ones. Why doesn't economic growth increase happiness?

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