In Europe differences among countries in the overall change in happiness since the early 1980s have been due chiefly to the generosity of welfare state programs - increasing happiness going with increasing generosity and declining happiness with declining generosity. This is the principal...

Das 20. Jahrhundert versprach Wohlstand und Aufstieg für alle. Aber die westlichen Gesellschaften lösten ihr Versprechen nicht ein. Immer mehr Menschen verlieren die Hoffnung auf ein besseres Leben. So sind wir nicht nur in eine politische und soziale, sondern vor allem moralische Krise...

This chapter explores links between national wealth and subjective well-being (SWB) at the macro-level for a sample of 26 OECD countries in 2005. The national wealth data have been developed in the context of the debate on sustainability. They are from two alternative sources. After discussing...