Economic Freedom and increased Happiness

More important than money, more important than accumulating wealth, is happiness. In my eyes an individual is not successful if they are not happy. While this is not the area of discussion for this post, it is a good intro into the effect Economic Freedom has on happiness. It is not until recently that the two subject areas have been studied together relatively closely.

First, some important things to note are the basics of happiness. Happiness is subjective. While people may feel the same when they are happy, what makes them happy is up to their own choice. In this way, Economic Freedom is important to happiness as it allows for people to choose a path that would make them happy. This is shown through the work of Economists Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer people are happier in more democratic nations (Frey and Stutzer). This is because democracy attempts to put in policies that are closely related to its people and without the ability to choose your economic path freely, one will not be as happy as they would be if they could choose freely. 

A very controversial topic within this area of Economics and happiness is the study of the "Eastern Paradox". It has been researched that a rise in GDP means a rise in happiness, but the "Eastern Paradox" attempts to disprove the theory by showing that people are happier in Eastern countries who do not have a large GDP. I believe this controversy is very small as it is true that a rise in GDP results in a rise of happiness. This is true because happiness can be related to an access of food, water and shelter and in lower GDP countries there is limited access to these so increasing the wealth of a nation to buy these commodities will be likely to increase the happiness. I believe though, the controversy will become greater as nations in the world have more access to basic needs that will make them happy. The worry in this controversy can be related to the United States as we have one of the highest GDPs but not the highest level of happiness. 

Frey, Bruno S., and Alois Stutzer. “Happiness, Economy and Institutions.” The Economic Journal, vol. 110, no. 466, 2000, pp. 918–938. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2667858. Accessed 25 Sept. 2020.

Jackson, Jeremy. “Is Economic Freedom the Secret to Happiness?” North Dakota State University, 21 Sept. 2017, www.ndsu.edu/centers/pcpe/news/detail/30586/.