Happiness

Joy is fleeting, invest in happiness stocks now!

Is this even possible?

Will the stock market finally enter the realm of ethics?

We're not sure yet but we'll find out soon.

Will it be successful though? Most likely.

Based on extensive research compiled over my breakfast this morning, only one asset class provides reliable returns in all economic scenarios: happiness investments.

As our world has become less and less friendly to the average Joe and Jane, we all look for ways to escape the day-to-day problems life puts upon us. The pursuit of happiness (or unhappiness avoidance) has always been a worthwhile investment whether we like it or not. I hereby make available my study on happiness investments and their effects on economic growth and personal finance.

The key findings:

- Happiness is an important predictor of economic growth.

- Increases in happiness lead to immediate increases in consumption and savings(!).

- Consumption and savings lead to short-term economic growth, but the effect on long-term economic growth is unclear. (It was a small breakfast study)

- The market for happiness investments has completely failed so far. Why? The Capitalist system can't provide happiness.

- Happiness is positively correlated with empathy, compassion, and generosity.

Now, let's move on to the details!

Happiness as a predictor of economic growth;

Let's first understand why happiness should be a predictor for economic growth. In an ever-changing world, to keep up you have to adapt. One way to do so is by being happy. Why? Well, because being unhappy makes it impossible to enjoy anything else in life and then your only goal becomes to combat the unhappiness. To fight unhappiness, people work harder and longer hours while simultaneously cutting down on consumption. This leads to a decrease in productivity and eventually lower economic growth rates. The effect is so strong it's depressing (!!!!)

Increases in happiness lead to immediate increases in consumption and savings;

Based on this logic we should be seeing an increase in economic growth whenever we see an increase in happiness. That's exactly what we've seen on a historical basis. So, happiness is without a doubt a predictor of economic growth on the macro level!

Why the Capitalist system can't provide happiness;

In Capitalist countries, huge amounts of money are being spent on products and services that have been scientifically proven to not affect happiness. These expenditures have been estimated to be as high as $1 trillion per year in the US alone! This is not only an ethical problem but also a severe drag on the economy. The increased spending doesn't raise the overall happiness level though. It merely spreads it more thinly among people and increases unhappiness in aggregate, causing further decreases in consumption and even less well-being. The economy is sent into a downward spiral of decreasing happiness until it finally collapses.

Happiness is positively correlated with empathy, compassion, and generosity.

Empathy, compassion, and generosity are all strong predictors for higher happiness levels. If we want to develop our economy, more of us must start building up these positive traits! Fortunately, the research on happiness also shows that cultivating empathy and compassion is not only highly rewarding but also extremely fun! It just takes some effort to get started and the payoffs are amazing. So, there might be a way to get rich quickly after all.

Ethics:

Based on the false belief that money can buy happiness, many people are engaged in unethical business practices that manipulate consumers into buying more than they need or want. By using psychological techniques, advertising companies increase our dissatisfaction with what we have and drive us further into debt to reduce it. An ethical business agenda, on the other hand, could provide an alternative route for increasing happiness levels. The aim of every company should be to sell products that improve people's lives instead of making them feel bad or inadequate about their current situations. This is an effort that I am committed to as part of my business activities. So, there you have it! A solution to the unhappiness problem, at least partially. I'm not sure how useful all this is in practice though. It seems to me that a good way to become happy is not focusing on the question of happiness at all. I'm pretty sure Einstein said something similar about science...

So, after my extensive research, I found that there are three main components to happiness: pleasure, happiness, and meaning. Because of current data availability, my study is limited to the time it will take to eat my last pancake. This means it's composed entirely of good feelings and experiences that you can have in a single day.

Happiness = The feeling of being content with your life as a whole. Meaning, the long-term well-being & satisfaction you get from everything you do during your time on Earth.

Pleasure = The feeling of having a good time, good experiences, and a positive state of mind.

Meaning = The feeling of contributing to something bigger than yourself.

So, the key question is: Can happiness investments affect all three measurements equally? It turns out they can! Now just trust me on this one. I measured how happy people are clearly and objectively. Obviously, the best way to do this would be using a Functional MRI scanner but I can't afford one myself so instead, I used a rudimentary alternative: see image attached.

This amazing picture above was taken after dinner!

There you have it; we now know how much money you need to be happy. I'm going to put this research to good use in my business activities.

Have a great day everyone and be happy!