The Correlation Between Economic Growth And The Deterioration Of Our Environment Essay

Can anyone be truly happy? A economist name Richard A. Easterlin once said “...Although richer people were happier than poorer people in the same country, people in weather countries were not necessarily happier than those in poorer ones.” Which means that wealth doesn’t bring people happiness, it it how people spend their lives that bring them so much happiness. When people look back at the past the ones that help others are more happier than the ones that try and help themselves.

Furthermore, several cross-sectional studies support the economic paradigm that money is positively correlated with happiness (Gardner & Oswald, 2007). Although cross-sectional studies have many weaknesses, Gardener and Oswald (2007) agree with those conclusions because their longitudinal study found that a windfall of money has the same positive effect on happiness and lower mental stress. In other words, if people achieve financial success, their motivation will be fulfilled. Although happiness achieved by high income levels is unstable and completely dependent on the income level, it is not possible to define financial security as more stable than happiness if people lose their income. Unrealistic money-making motivations appear to be unstable, but realistic motivations are not more stable than unrealistic ones. Because income is connected with both types of motivations, all money-making goals are achieved by creating income, and all goals are lost by losing income.

He said people are happier if they live in wealthy than poor nations. However, when people have enough money to pay for their basic need of food, shelter, etc., money does relatively little to improve happiness. He said people today are twice as rich as people in the late 1960s, but they were less happy than people in the 1960s. In the article “Spending Become You” the author Juliet Schor argues that Americans are looking for happiness, so that lead them to continuously buy so much and overspend without even realizing that they are spending more than they make. David G Myers, in the article “ The Funds, and Faith of Happy people” he argues that it is impossible what these people are doing, because money can’t buy happiness. This shows that, the American habit of overspending is unnecessary. Myers’ article enables us to understand why Schor said, all that Americans do is spend, spend and spend as if they can’t have fun without spending

Don Peck and Ross Douthat convey through their editorial, “Does Money Buy Happiness?,” that one’s level of content to a degree is contingent upon their ability to act as a consumer in society. Peck and Douthat base their assumption on research which shows, “For individual countries, with few exceptions, self-reported happiness has increased as incomes have risen” (332, par.4) Based on this statistic, it is being assumed that one’s ability to support their lifestyle and perhaps better it creates a sense of security that leads to happiness.

Last year I spent so much time trying to figure how much happier I will be if I will make a big effort and start to earn more money. After some research I think that, even though UK Office of National Statistics show an interrelation between income and level of happiness, our emotional state is not correlated with financial sustainability as much as many people think because US National Academy of Science thinks that high income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being, and psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton also concluded that happiness doesn’t really increase above

In chapter 3 of Dinner Party economics, measures of life, liberty, and happiness are described by analyzing the macro economy. In the study of human happiness, three factors are known to contribute the happiness of people which includes demographic traits, economic factors, and political factors.(p. 18) Certain governments have separate policies regarding inflation and unemployment. These political factors are related to economic factors which can ultimately determine the happiness of the general population.(p. 20) Chapter 3 also describes how identifying catalysts of happiness is

The essay “Does Money Buy Happiness?” by Don Peck and Ross Douthat which was originally published as the January/February 2003 issue of the Atlantic discusses how wealthier countries are happier than non wealthy countries, with some exceptions. In paragraph 2, Peck and Douthat wrote the claim as “Money does buy happiness-but only to a point” (332) and justifies by using Robert E. Lane’s argument and charts to support their claim (use of logos). In paragraph 3-4, the authors made assumptions by saying “The fact that richer countries are in general, happier than poorer ones may not seem terribly surprising, it does suggest that continuing economic development will generate rising happiness worldwide. That said, there are clear limits to what

Although Americans do look better and feel better with the extravagant items they purchase, money doesn’t buy happiness for long term goals. Like many will argue, like Atlantic senior editor Derek Thompson did in his 2013 article, “Yes, Money Does Buy Happiness: 6 Lessons on the Newest Research on Income and Well-Being,” money can only buy happiness for short term goals; it won’t last very long for everyone and it could lead to worse scenarios when the money is gone. Thompson (2013) included statistics on richer countries that are proven to be happier, explaining, “First, the lines go up. More money, more happiness. Second, the lines go up in parallel, more or less. Across language, culture, religion, ethnic background, the same amount of extra money seems to buy the similar amount of extra happiness.” Thompson (2013) found the same similar pattern in many other countries and concluded that they are more happy than poorer countries. Although poorer countries don’t have as many resources or many things like richer countries do, Seth Borenstein, in his 2017 article for The Independent, “Norway Beats Denmark to be Named the Happiest Country in the World by the UN,” can beg to differ. Borenstein (2017) says, “While most countries were either getting happier or at least treading water, America's happiness score dropped 5 per cent over the past decade” (Borenstein, 2017). That shows that America, one of the richest

Money and happiness are linked positivity in the psychology of many cultures and in the economy as well, yet money can be observed playing a sociological role in the ebb and flow of happiness in society. When contrasting the benefits of a dream career against a path to a more attainable means to financial safety, often individuals cognitively associate happiness with money. Does money create happiness or does it at least create a path to happiness? In the book, “Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires,” Carol Graham confronts this issue. She admits:

In the article “THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS", John Ikerd review the ideas within economic history and the effects of economic on our happiness. I think that while all of us want something so much that we think that if we own it; it will make us happier. We can see that advertisements of gadgets such as Apple products: iPod and especially iPhone and iMacs computers try to sell us the illusion that buying their products would make us special and unique. Psychological research shows that happiness that comes from buying a new product is only temporary and lasts only for a short time. In addition, statistics show that 1 in 10 Americans will suffer from depression, which means we became a nation of unhappy people despite all the wealth we have. I

In his article The Funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy People David G. Myers analyzes results of different surveys and researches in attempt to answer the question: “does money make people happier?” The conclusion suggests they do not. While many people have an opposite opinion, facts show the correlation between money and happiness weakens with the increase of income.

In today’s materialistic world, the phrase that ‘money can’t buy happiness’ is tending to be proved hence otherwise. Social research and surveys have shown results based on an individuals income, health and the political scenario which is dominant in his or her region. It is quite obvious that the gap between the privileged and the not so is growing into a great divide giving rise to different class and status, thus defining ones social circle. It should therefore be understood how an individuals economic status affects their personal happiness throughout all aspects of life. Many tend to refer to this age-old quote especially when they tend to belong to sector of people who can’t afford the modern day luxuries of life. What they do not

However, Myers and Wiederman also consent that wealth, achievement, and one aspect of inheritance, little voice, might be obstacles to achieve happiness. Myers writes that money cannot buy happiness or bring it. Although people in poor countries are less happy than people in rich countries, some rich people are not as satisfied as regular people in the same country, and some of them don't know happiness, whereas a few of them are happy because they know how to gain it and how to spend it. Also, he compares people in the past and the present in the U.S. He concludes that Americans in the past seems happier than Americans now though the economy has been increasing, so wealth cannot escort satisfaction. According to Wiederman, accomplishment also may not lead to well-being since people whose goal is money will not be happy. That is because after achieving their goal, they will compare themselves with those who are richer than them. Then despondency will be their feelings. Moreover, if their goal is not money, and they are strong-linkers, another two situations may occur. He discusses that strong-linkers

The Ecological Consequences of Global Economic Growth “There have been five ‘ mass extinctions’ in the history of the earth, when between 65% and 95% of all species were wiped out, due to natural processes of selection and evolution. Some scientists now argue that we are heading for a ‘sixth extinction’, caused by the actions of humans.” (Cock and Hopwood, 1996:17) In the following I’m going to look at the positive and negative effects of the ecological systems of global economic growth and the effects on economic loss, and briefly discuss the concept of ‘risk’, and the consequences of ‘population growth’.

From time to time, economic, environment, and political issues are treated with a different level of severity but more importantly they are treated separately. It is as if the three types of issue are of different entities. However what most failed to realize is that all those issues are interconnected on different levels: any environmental threat neglected will impact the earth, the primary residence of human beings, and the political or economical issue created affect the live of us human being. Thus, every decision made should ensure that all factors are taking into account and with that comes the question: should environmental concerns such as clean water, air pollution, wildlife be put on the back burner so that economy can grow and create more jobs? The clear answer to this question is simply no because this solution’s aim is to better the economy’s growth and it will lead to a growth but only a short term one as oppose to the more preferable stable long term economic growth and this paper will highlights the reasoning behind this claim.