HAPPINESS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH/LIVING STANDARDS.

Richard Layard's book- 'Happiness' Lessons from a new science, refers to various surveys which show that that huge economic and scientific growth after the second world war has not raised the happiness index. Value of any possession whether material or abstract is governed by two factors- Absolute Value and Relative Value. An excerpt I liked, -

" ....SO LIVING STANDARDS R TO SOME EXTENT LIKE ALCOHOL OR DRUGS. ONCE U HV A CERTAIN NEW EXPERIENCE, U NEED TO KEEP ON HAVING MORE OF IT (AS OTHERS R GETTING AHEAD ) IF U WANT TO SUSTAIN UR HAPPINESS (WHICH DISAPPEARS NO SOONER SOME ONE HAS MORE OR NEAR TO WHAT U HV). U R INFACT, ON A KIND OF A TREADMILL, A "HEDONIC TREADMILL", WHERE U HV TO KEEP RUNNING IN ORDER THAT UR HAPPINESS STANDS STILL.