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Money, Happiness, and Diminishing Returns, 2003-01-15

Can money buy happiness? In the latest Atlantic, Don Peck and Ross Douthat review the research.

data indicate a robust, if inexact, relationship between per capita income and "life satisfaction." ...That said, there are clear limits to what money can buy. Although improvements in income produce large improvements in happiness for poor countries...the law of diminishing returns takes effect at higher income levels.

Discussion Question. Does the finding of diminishing returns strengthen the case for income redistribution?

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