Part II.....
2003: The Rich Got Richer . . .
. . . and so did everyone else.
by Irwin M. Stelzer
12/30/2003 12:00:00 AM
Page 2 of 2 < Back
Of course, no sensible person would claim that poverty has been eliminated in America. Or ever will be, since the poverty line is periodically raised. But remember: Data gathered by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas show that over 40 percent of America's poor own their own homes, 72 percent have washing machines, 60 percent own microwave ovens, 92 percent have color television sets, half have air conditioners, and 72 percent own one or more cars.
IT IS FASHIONABLE to dismiss these indicators of material prosperity on two grounds. The first is that inequality is rampant and rising; the second is that money can't produce happiness.
There is no question that statistical measures show a rise in inequality. The main reason: America welcomes more immigrants--legal and illegal--than all the other countries of the world combined. These newcomers typically start at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Exclude them from the statistics, calculates Easterbrook, and the increase in inequality disappears. Indeed, for the 9 out of 10 Americans that are native born, inequality is declining. And here is the reason that will surprise America's critics: The decline in inequality is due in good part to the rising affluence of African Americans.
Which leaves happiness, a commodity many argue cannot be bought with money. America's Founding Fathers were certainly onto something when, in the Declaration of Independence from British tyranny, they held it to be "self-evident" that the "Pursuit of Happiness" is among the unalienable rights of all people. But they failed to opine
on whether that pursuit would be aided or impeded by increased material well-being.
Charles Murray, the social scientist who has written a book on the subject of happiness, says that although moving from very poor to reasonably well off increases happiness, students of the subject are uncertain whether beyond that point more income results in greater happiness. The portion of Americans who consider themselves "very happy" or "pretty happy" has hovered around 87 percent in recent years. So it seems unlikely that wealth, which unambiguously increases choice, can also produce misery, although it may produce the leisure time in which to find things to be unhappy about. This economist leaves the final decision about the relationship of wealth to happiness to sociologists, and confines himself to wishing all of our readers a prosperous and happy New Year.
Irwin M. Stelzer is director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute, a columnist for the Sunday Times (London), a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard, and a contributing writer to The Daily Standard |
