The Extent to Which Increased Prosperity in the Uk Has Been Accompanied by an Increase in Happiness.
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- Date Submitted: 04/21/2014 02:10 PM
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The extent to which increased prosperity in the UK has been accompanied by an increase in happiness.
CONTENTS
Introduction 2
Measuring Prosperity 3
What is an economy? 3
Measurements of Growth 3
The growth of the UK economy 3
Should success be measured differently? 4
Measuring Happiness 5
Methods of measurement 5
Contradicting conclusions from similar research 6
Conclusion 6
References 7
Introduction
There are a many questions asked about the link between prosperity and happiness and the extent to which one effects the other, or indeed whether they actually do, is an ongoing debate amongst not just social scientists but also psychologists, economists and environmentalist. This report examines the potential link between the two within the UK. It looks at ways in which this can be measured and asks if these measures can ever be accurate with such subjective concepts.
Measuring Prosperity
What is an economy?
An economy is defined as the range of activities that gives rise to the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services. Economies can be looked at from different levels, from household to global, but this report mainly focuses on the national level, looking at the UK in particular.
Measurements of Growth
At the national level economic growth is generally established by looking at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this is the total value of everything produced in an economy in a time period such as a year.
If seeking to compare different economies this must be broken down into GDP per capita as comparing the GDP directly doesn’t take into account the economy size or population size. By dividing the GDP by the population size it gives a national income figure per person which is easily comparable.
If looking at smaller units of an economy, such as regions within a country, Gross Value Added (GVA) can be used...
CONTENTS
Introduction 2
Measuring Prosperity 3
What is an economy? 3
Measurements of Growth 3
The growth of the UK economy 3
Should success be measured differently? 4
Measuring Happiness 5
Methods of measurement 5
Contradicting conclusions from similar research 6
Conclusion 6
References 7
Introduction
There are a many questions asked about the link between prosperity and happiness and the extent to which one effects the other, or indeed whether they actually do, is an ongoing debate amongst not just social scientists but also psychologists, economists and environmentalist. This report examines the potential link between the two within the UK. It looks at ways in which this can be measured and asks if these measures can ever be accurate with such subjective concepts.
Measuring Prosperity
What is an economy?
An economy is defined as the range of activities that gives rise to the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services. Economies can be looked at from different levels, from household to global, but this report mainly focuses on the national level, looking at the UK in particular.
Measurements of Growth
At the national level economic growth is generally established by looking at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this is the total value of everything produced in an economy in a time period such as a year.
If seeking to compare different economies this must be broken down into GDP per capita as comparing the GDP directly doesn’t take into account the economy size or population size. By dividing the GDP by the population size it gives a national income figure per person which is easily comparable.
If looking at smaller units of an economy, such as regions within a country, Gross Value Added (GVA) can be used...