Monday, February 21, 2011

More money than your neighbours

Hi Mr. Tan,
Thought you might be interested to read this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7497380/Money-only-makes-you-happy-if-you-have-more-than-neighbours.html

Quote:

"Making everybody in society richer will not necessarily increase overall happiness because it is only having a higher income than other people that matters," he said.......
Dr Boyce said the study raises questions about whether the relentless pursuit of economic growth was a good thing for the nation.
But he cautioned that economic growth did provide jobs which were an important requirement for happiness not just for the income they provided but for the sense of purpose they gave people.
Unquote
HL


Hi
I agree with the view.
There is no point in pursuing economic growth relentlessly.
The Singapore approach is not good, as it results in a low birth rate, high immigration and will make Singaporeans lose our identity.
It is important to provide jobs for everybody and it can be best achieved by regulating the maximum hours of work, so that the available work can be spread to all those who are willing to work and each person will have more free time for families and hobbies.