In 1974 Richard Easterlin famously posited that increasing average income did not raise average well-being, a claim that became known as the Easterlin Paradox. Since then, some researchers have acknowledged the existence of a link between income and well-being among those whose basic needs have not been met, but claim that beyond a certain income threshold ( a “satiation point”), further income is unrelated to well-being. But new research by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers finds a robust link between income and well-being among both the poor and the rich. This finding holds true when making cross-national comparisons between rich and poor countries, and when making comparisons between rich and poor people within a country.
