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.

9. All over the world

10. All over the world

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

13. "Does Money Buy Happiness
"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.

14. "Does Money Buy Happiness
"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,

15. "Does Money Buy Happiness
"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,

16. Easterlin’s famous 1974 paper

17. 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]

18. Its subversive idea is this:

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

25. The famous Easterlin paradox

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

27. I took the data in the 1974 paper

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

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

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

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

32. Researchers now have results

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

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

35. Title: Relative versus absolute income, joy of winning, and gender: Brain imaging evidence Author(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: Published: APR 2011

36. Armin Falk and colleagues

37. Falk et al in Science and JPubEcon

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

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

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

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

42. 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.

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

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

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

47. Perhaps I am biased

49. My Hero

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

51. This talk is in honor of Richard A. Easterlin
A Truly Remarkable Man