HAPPINESS QUANTIFICATION

DEFINING HAPPINESS THROUGH ECONOMICS

Since 1974 when Richard Easterlin, an economist at the University of Southern California, published his Easterlin Paradox happiness quantification has come a long way. The Easterlin Paradox concludes that people do not become happier as they become richer. From this study economies around the world, such as in the Kingdom of Bhutan (population 738,000; average income $5,800), have begun to measure, what they term, gross national happiness. Fast-forward to the early 2000s and happiness studies have become a hot discipline. France, Britain and other governments now perform surveys on national levels of emotional wellbeing. Unfortunately, happiness studies have a tendency to be extremely complex, and thus many economists have abandoned the Easterlin Paradox entirely to quantify for themselves what really matters when calculating individual emotional wellbeing and overall national happiness.

Depending on where you are and what tine it is economist have a pretty clear idea as to what mood you are in. Currently, psychologists and economists are teaming up to map out levels of happiness across boarders and time zones. Unfortunately, defined parameters for measuring happiness are still wishy-washy, and economists struggle to rationalize why Filipinos, who live in a relatively poor country, report such high happiness levels, and why western Long Island residents score several points higher on the happiness scale then most of Brooklyn. As more and more data becomes available to explain these trends of happiness we will see a deviation from the Easterlin Paradox as the original theory begins to loose merit. Broadly speaking, reports have started showing that people reporting higher income are also reporting higher levels of happiness too. However, economists must first determine if rich countries are truly happy, or are residents using financial stability masks to conceal feelings of sadness and emotional insecurity if they are to understand this shift in trend. The Goal: Through happiness quantification governments hope to inform traditional measures like GDP, and influence effective government policy. The United Nations has called upon the worlds governments to adopt happiness measures. As the United States government warms engines to explore their own issues, France has already determined that they are pretty miserable, while the UK determined that they are relatively happy despite their recent recession.

Katherine Anne Doerr, Associate Analyst for Economic Analysis 3 November 2012 Sources: Bloomberg, NY Times, the Economist

A gross domestic product growth of 3.0 percent annually is projected to result in a gain of 20.5 million jobs between 2010 and 2020; the fastest job growth is projected for industries and occupations related to healthcare and construction. The bar graph above projects GDP growth for the US and other major countries. With GDP growth projected at 3.0 percent for the US in 2013, there will be a rise in the standard of living for most Americans in the upcoming year. As the standard of living increases for Americans, we will see a rise in discretionary spending. With this comes an increased sale for companies such as Ann Taylor whose revenue comes primarily from facultative good sales.

Industries such as health care and social assistance, financial activities, professional and business services, educational services, leisure and hospitality, state and local government, retail trade, and information will grow exponentially between now and 2020. Total nonfarm women employees have almost fully recovered from the housing bubble crash 5 years ago. At the peak total women nonfarm employees was nearly at 68,000 women. Unfortunately, the recession sent this number plummeting to around 64,500 women - approximately a 4.3% shift downward. Projecting forward, we can continue to see this growth continue beyond the 68,000 women employee level. By 2020, the women labor force is projected at 77,232 women.