An survey conducted by oswald, displays very interesting results on happiness. There are 3 level of happiness in the survey,very happy,happy and not happy. The survey was conducted over 4 difference years 1972, 1982, 1992, 1998. The result are listed below.

____________1972 1982 1992 1998
very happy____34% 19% 32% 31%
happy________53% 59% 57% 56%
not happy_____13% 21% 10% 12%

From the result of the survey we can see that there is no significant rise in the level of happiness of people representing to US and Euro since 1970's.

Another survey shows the increase of non-necessarites owned by households between 1970 and 2000.

__________________1970 2000
2nd Car_____________20% 59%
2nd TV_______________3% 45%
2nd phone____________2% 78%
Air condition__________22% 70%
Washing machine______8% 44%

An interesting question arise- does economics progress increase a persons level of happiness? From the result of the two surveys it appears that a persons happiness is not necessary affect by their economics or financial status.

Any comment?

If human nature is to want that little bit(or lot) more then at any point in time the happiness factor will be similar.
If we are happy with what we've got, then we're happy whether it be a lot or not.

If you ask people now whether they would be happy returning to the 70's I think they would be reluctant to say the least.

Taking into account life expectancy increases and medical breakthroughs we should all be a little happier about economic progress.

Money does not buy happiness. After the short term bounce in pleasure which we get from buying something the pleasure factor slowly recedes back to pre-buy status. The only problem is now that we take the product we bought for granted and losing it would create displeasure.
So no I don’t think is does increase a person’s level of long term happiness.

Our concept of what we take as a luxury and what we take for granted has the ability to increase our level of pleasure. Going to a pricey restaurant once every 6 weeks is a luxury but if you have cash to burn you could go there every week and the “luxury” factor quickly disappears

The more money you have the more you take for granted!

People will answer this from their different experiences but speaking as one of the 'old battlers' I state that that though money can't buy happiness, it enables you to be miserable in comfort.And if you think that being poor isn't a miserable existance anyhow, try it.
I would loath to go back to the days where being poor and bringing up a family was such a dreadful time that one could not see any brightness in life.
Economic progress has removed some of the horrors , it has enabled us to be more comfortable. It may not have helped the mentally immature see how fortunate they are, only a lobotomy would fix some.
But most of us should be a lot more thankful for what we have received.

Sadly, people today seem to feel they're happy if they can buy, buy, buy but as the previous poster said, the thrill of the new material acquisition soon fades and one must buy again, and again, to try to maintain a level of false happiness.

What I have noticed is that in this new consumer culture, people really aren't happy and are unable to just BE and enjoy the simple thing. Instead they have to be a human DOING and have continual entertainment and distractions. This leads to many addictive behaviours and people with addictions, whether it's shopping, greed and money, food, computer games, never mind alcohol and drugs, are not really happy within themselves.

My adult children are examples. They are both well into the consumer culture and into what I call OTHER ESTEEM (I am my material goods, my fancy house, fancy car, and constant activity. I just returned from visiting my daughter for a week and was relieved to return to my peace and quiet. In the week since I've returned I've been in to enjoying being with my SELF, sitting in the hammock, sitting in the back yard and enjoying all my lovely trees and bushes, gardening, taking a bush walk in the rainforest, cycling then sitting and enjoying the wonders of nature. Sadly, my children are unable to enjoy those activities any more since they have been totally influenced by the consumerism culture, which IMO, includes selfishness and self-centeredness as well as a need for continual activity and external entertainment with the accompanying stress and addictive behaviours.

I feel that my children are examples of what the consumerism culture has done to people, where they pretend they are happy if they are busy, busy, busy and buying, buying, buying but unhappy and depressed if they have to just sit and enjoy being with SELF and nature.

Does economic advancement (alone) bring happiness ?

no.

Bobbicee, you put into words exactly how I feel about my children and the comsumer mentality. The trouble is, there's no end to it. Producers spend obscene amounts of money on research to invent products that will sell to gullible consumers and the youth of today are so easily bored that they make perfect consumers. Do they ever stop to consider that they don't really need that Ipod, Playstation, a mobile phone with a ridiculous camera and access to the Internet. No they don't, but as somebody once said.... "You can't put an old head on young shoulders."

Producers create in order to achieve one end.....making heaps more money than they invest on their useless products. This won't end while we have Government leaders who are more intent on creating policy that perpetuates the economic myth. At some point, either through Global warming, peak oil or whatever, this economic madness will grind to a staggering halt. The result will be massive unemployment and major recession, if not depression. We'll then see an entire generation of younger people who will not have the life skills to cope with boredom and it won't be a pleasant time for anyone.

Within any society, the affluent are generally happier than the poor. Average happiness is also generally higher in richer countries than poor ones. The time series evidence is mixed, though – perhaps inevitably, if happiness is a relative measure, we adjust our expectations according to how we felt last week or how our neighbour feels today.

Anyway, reported emotional state is an incomplete indicator of human flourishing.

A couple of personal examples.

I was the first in our family to attend university – universal access to higher education is possible only in rich societies. Being educated didn’t make me “happier” – in fact, a good education should teach us to question our values and worldviews (which is always uncomfortable) and open our eyes to life’s problems and injustices. But it did open up opportunities I’d otherwise never have had, and trained me for a rich life of the mind which has added greatly to my quality of life in a more profound sense.

A few years ago my mother was diagnosed with a serious illness. In a poorer culture or period of history she’d have died fairly shortly after, but medicine has kept her reasonably active for many years. It’s been sometimes painful for her and worrying for the rest of us, so a researcher surveying our “happiness” levels may have recorded a sustained drop. But I wouldn’t swap these gifted years for quids, and nor would she.

Ever since Adam and Eve opted for knowledge of good and evil over blissful ignorance, humans have made choices which demonstrate that the pursuit of happiness is not their only objective, and indeed that they are prepared to sacrifice happiness in order to achieve those other objectives. Our material living standard is important because it is a key determinant of our capacity to pursue those things that give us quality of life in the broader sense – health, knowledge and understanding gained through education, experience of the world and its cultures, etc. These things are no less valuable if they fail to make us happy in ways that surveys can measure.

Boaz you say economic advancement does not bring happiness. Does that mean that living in some dreadful third world slum automatically send one into bliss?
Poverty is not ennobling, it goes with fear and both are miserable companions.Particularly when one sees one's children suffer. Do the pictures of Darfur look cheerful.
I love the small bits of shopping I can manage, as soon as I save up and buy one thing, I am already planning the next.
Bobbicee, you offspring will one day reach their quiet days,we all do.But there are few more bargains to achieve yet.