Freedom vs happiness

Women are becoming unhappier. This paper by Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson shows that American women’s satisfaction with life has declined since the 1970s, both absolutely and relative to men.

Freedom makes us happy. When we can, we choose what makes us happy. Religious belief is irrational. Most readers of this blog would, I guess, subscribe to these propositions. This new paper, however, challenges all three.

By James Kwak

Having children makes you miserable. That’s the message of this paper by Luca Stanca, which draws upon data from 94 countries:Having children is negatively related to subjective well-being. Conditioning on individual characteristics shows that the effect of parenthood on well-being is positive and significant only for widowers, older and highly educated individuals…On the basis of a purely economic approach, the optimal number of children for a rational agent is zero.

We have long-discussed the growing concerns of a rising level of social unrest in Europe. Our go-to chart has been youth unemployment - and it still reigns supreme as the scariest chart for European leaders (no matter what they publically claim). JPMorgan's Michael Cembalest shares our concern as he opines on the potential for a tear in the social fabric in Europe.   Via Michael Cembalest, CIO JPMorgan,

David Ruccio points to labour's falling share of income in the US and says: We need to talk much more about profits and who owns capital. And, in addition, who appropriates and distributes the surplus and to whom that surplus is subsequently distributed.

“When I talk to people, I find that they generally agree with, and rarely strongly oppose, forcible government transfers of income from the rich to the poor to reduce income inequality. But when I suggest that the government transfer medical expenditures from women to men to reduce life-expectancy inequality, I get a very different reaction. Often, the listener will simply give me a strange look and quickly depart.