Happiness for All? Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream

By Carol Graham,

Book cover of Happiness for All? Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream

Book description

How the optimism gap between rich and poor is creating an increasingly divided society The Declaration of Independence states that all people are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that among these is the pursuit of happiness. But is happiness available equally to everyone in America today? How about elsewhere…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Happiness for All? Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I like this book because it does not simply show how income inequality affects happiness inequality, thus suggesting that unhappiness is just a sign of material disadvantage.

The book also links income and happiness to hope, which is a feeling that motivates people to plan and invest for the future. 

To convince the sceptical reader about measuring hope and happiness, Carol Graham provides an abundance of empirical evidence.

But being an economist, in addition to telling emblematic stories, she reports evidence based on large samples and international data.

It is a challenging book, but rewarding, because it helps to understand…

From Maurizio's list on human development in advanced economies.

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