Most rich countries have reported increases in happiness as they become richer.

In poor countries, the rich and powerful crush the poor and powerless.

In bad times, the rich usually get richer.

Lots of countries have great constitutions, but their leaders have a practice of ignoring the rules whenever they feel like it.

The America that I think most Americans would want, most economists on the right or left would want, is one in which a smart, ambitious, hardworking person without a huge amount of resources has a pretty good shot, in the end, of beating out a less smart, less ambitious, less hardworking rich person.

Happiness statistics may be most valuable in smaller, local discussions. Understanding how different sorts of programs affect the well-being of citizens would be enormously helpful to a mayor choosing between building a new bridge or offering a tax cut.