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Richard Easterlin and the World Andrew Oswald April 2018

Richard Easterlin and the World Andrew Oswald April 2018 I would like to record that my earliest work on these issues began, at the start of the 1990s, in close collaboration with researchers Andrew E Clark and David G Blanchflower. All over the world. All over the world.

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Richard Easterlin and the World Andrew Oswald April 2018

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  1. Richard Easterlin and the World Andrew Oswald April 2018 I would like to record that my earliest work on these issues began, at the start of the 1990s, in close collaboration with researchers Andrew E Clark and David G Blanchflower.

  2. All over the world

  3. All over the world

  4. "Does Money Buy Happiness?" The Public Interest, 3 (Winter), 1973, 3-10.

  5. "Does Money Buy Happiness?" The Public Interest, 3 (Winter), 1973, 3-10. • "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot?" in Paul A. David and Melvin W. Reder, eds., Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramovitz, New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1974.

  6. "Does Money Buy Happiness?" The Public Interest, 3 (Winter), 1973, 3-10. • "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot?" in Paul A. David and Melvin W. Reder, eds., Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramovitz, New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1974. • "Will Raising the Incomes of All Increase the Happiness of All?" Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 27:1 (June), 1995, 35-48.

  7. "Does Money Buy Happiness?" The Public Interest, 3 (Winter), 1973, 3-10. • "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot?" in Paul A. David and Melvin W. Reder, eds., Nations and Households in Economic Growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramovitz, New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1974. • "Will Raising the Incomes of All Increase the Happiness of All?" Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 27:1 (June), 1995, 35-48.

  8. Easterlin’s famous 1974 paper

  9. Easterlin’s famous 1974 paper “..relative status considerations as an important determinant of happiness”. P.30 “The growth process itself engenders ever-growing wants…” P. 33 [final sentence, in the main text, of Easterlin 1974]

  10. Its subversive idea is this:

  11. Its subversive idea is this: Humans care dominantly about their relative income and consumption.

  12. The famous Easterlin paradox

  13. Intriguingly The word ‘paradox’ does not appear in Dick’s 1974 article.

  14. I took the data in the 1974 paper

  15. I took the data in the 1974 paper Across nations Through time

  16. I took the data in the 1974 paper Across nations Through time

  17. But what about from the 1970s right up to today? Did Richard Easterlin turn out to be right?

  18. Average Happiness Over Time in the USA: The Latest Data 1972 – 2016

  19. Researchers now have results

  20. Researchers now have results • From fMRI scans • From statistical work on well-being

  21. Title: Social comparison affects reward-related brain activity in the human ventral striatumAuthor(s): Fliessbach K, Weber B, Trautner P, et al.Source: SCIENCE Volume: 318 Issue: 5854 Pages: 1305-1308 Published: NOV 23 2007

  22. Title: Relative versus absolute income, joy of winning, and gender: Brain imaging evidenceAuthor(s): Dohmen T, Falk A, Fliessbach K, et al.Source: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS Volume: 95 Issue: 3-4 Special Issue: Sp. Iss. SI Pages: 279-285 Published: APR 2011

  23. Armin Falk and colleagues

  24. Falk et al in Science and JPubEcon

  25. Falk et al in Science and JPubEcon • “The mere fact of outperforming the other subject positively affected reward-related brain areas.”

  26. The next slide -- briefly -- is for specialists.

  27. Blood-oxygenation equations • (similar with fixed effects, main variation across Ss)

  28. So, inside your brain You simply want to be high up the monkey pack

  29. It has also now been shown that Relative-income variables show up consistently in well-being regression equations. E. Luttmer, Quarterly Journal of Economics 2005 A. E.Clark et al, JPubEcon 1996, JELit 2008 GDA Brown et al, Industrial Relations 2008 and Psychological Science 2010 D. Card et al, NBER paper, 2011.

  30. A person’s happiness and mental health = f(their relative income).

  31. A person’s happiness and mental health = f(their relative income). Just as Easterlin’s 1974 article predicted.

  32. Is our society going in a sensible direction? The evidence suggests: no.

  33. Perhaps I am biased

  34. My Hero

  35. This talk is in honor of Richard A. Easterlin

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