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Nov 15, 2003

"I ain't got no checkbook and I ain't got no credit cards. To me money is a lot like water. For some folks it rushes through their life like a raging river. Money comes through my life like a trickle. But I want to pass it on in a way that does some good for the most folks." --Gertrude, in 'Soul of Money'

Everybody loves a fat pay raise. Yet over the past half-century, as developed economies have got much richer, people do not seem to have become happier. Surveys suggest that, on average, people in America, Europe and Japan are no more pleased with their lot than in the 1950s. Economist Richard Laylard thinks it's because we work too long, driven to choose more income instead of leisure. In a recent study, Harvard students were asked to choose between (a) two weeks' holiday, while others have only one week and (b) four weeks' holiday while others get eight. A clear majority chose (b).