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How the optimism gap between rich and poor is creating an
increasingly divided society The Declaration of Independence states
that all people are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and
that among these is the pursuit of happiness. But is happiness
available equally to everyone in America today? How about elsewhere
in the world? Carol Graham draws on cutting-edge research linking
income inequality with well-being to show how the widening
prosperity gap has led to rising inequality in people's beliefs,
hopes, and aspirations. For the United States and other developed
countries, the high costs of being poor are most evident not in
material deprivation but rather in stress, insecurity, and lack of
hope. The result is an optimism gap between rich and poor that, if
left unchecked, could lead to an increasingly divided society.
Graham reveals how people who do not believe in their own futures
are unlikely to invest in them, and how the consequences can range
from job instability and poor education to greater mortality rates,
failed marriages, and higher rates of incarceration. She describes
how the optimism gap is reflected in the very words people use--the
wealthy use words that reflect knowledge acquisition and healthy
behaviors, while the words of the poor reflect desperation,
short-term outlooks, and patchwork solutions. She also explains why
the least optimistic people in America are poor whites, not poor
blacks or Hispanics. Happiness for All? highlights the importance
of well-being measures in identifying and monitoring trends in life
satisfaction and optimism--and misery and despair--and demonstrates
how hope and happiness can lead to improved economic outcomes.
The Church in the Modern World: Fifty Years after Gaudium et Spes
commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican
Council's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.
Featuring scholars from the Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic
Studies and Social Thought, this book offers a future-orientated
analysis by highlighting contemporary social issues through the
lens of Gaudium et Spes. In part I, authors examine the historical,
political, and social significance of the document. Part II
presents interdisciplinary perspectives on current social issues in
light of Gaudium et Spes and contemporary Catholic social thought.
The book covers such topics as immigration, women in the Church,
environmental ethics, human rights, economic justice, the Church in
Africa, and liberation theology.
In "The Pursuit of Happiness," renowned economist Carol Graham
explores what we know about the determinants of happiness and
clearly presents both the promise and the potential pitfalls of
injecting the "economics of happiness" into public policymaking.
While the book spotlights the innovative contributions of happiness
research to the dismal science, it also raises a cautionary note
about the issues that still need to be addressed before
policymakers can make best use of them.
The Arab Spring constitutes perhaps the most far-reaching political
and economic transition since the end of communism in Europe. For
too long, the economic aspirations of the people in the region,
especially young people, have been ignored by leaders in Arab
countries and abroad. Competing views as to how best to meet these
aspirations are now being debated in the region. The outcome will
shape Arab societies for generations to come.
The authors of this book argue that significant economic reforms
must accompany the major political transitions that are underway.
Although each country has a different economic structure and
history and must make its own way forward, there are spill-overs
from trade and investment linkages, the contagion of news cycles,
interaction of people and sharing of expectations that are too
great to ignore. Some common foundation of the new Arab economies
is needed. Towards that end, this volume addresses four central
challenges of economic reform in the Arab world. First, with
two-thirds of the population under the age of 30, the
disproportionate burdens of unemployment and poor education can no
longer be heaped on youth. Second, while some government policies
may have improved the living standards of Arab citizens in the
past, they have also entrenched cronies, enriched a small elite,
and become unaffordable. Third, if Arab economies are to compete in
the 21st century they cannot depend solely on oil and gas money,
remittances, and tourism, but will require active, independent
private sectors. And finally, the relative isolation of Arab
economies--both from each other and from the world--must end.
Rather than providing specific lists of recommendations, this book
sets forth a set of guidelines and priorities for reformers who
will begin creating new opportunities for youth, rebuilding the
institutions of the state, diversifying the private sector, and
cooperating with each other and integrating with the world economy.
Why hope matters as a metric of economic and social well-being In a
society marked by extreme inequality of income and opportunity, why
should economists care about how people feel? The truth is that
feelings of well-being are critical metrics that predict future
life outcomes. In this timely and innovative account, economist
Carol Graham argues for the importance of hope-little studied in
economics at present-as an independent dimension of well-being.
Given America's current mental health crisis, thrown into stark
relief by COVID, hope may be the most important measure of
well-being, and researchers are tracking trends in hope as a key
factor in understanding the rising numbers of "deaths of despair"
and premature mortality. Graham, an authority on the study of
well-being, points to empirical evidence demonstrating that hope
can improve people's life outcomes and that despair can destroy
them. These findings, she argues, merit deeper exploration. Graham
discusses the potential of novel well-being metrics as tracking
indicators of despair, reports on new surveys of hope among
low-income adolescents, and considers the implications of the
results for the futures of these young adults. Graham asks how and
why the wealthiest country in the world has such despair. What are
we missing? She argues that public policy problems-from joblessness
and labor force dropout to the lack of affordable health care and
inadequate public education-can't be solved without hope. Drawing
on research in well-being and other disciplines, Graham describes
strategies for restoring hope in populations where it has been
lost. The need to address despair, and to restore hope, is critical
to America's future.
How the optimism gap between rich and poor is creating an
increasingly divided society The Declaration of Independence states
that all people are endowed with certain unalienable rights. Among
them is the pursuit of happiness. But is happiness available
equally to everyone in America? How about elsewhere in the world?
Carol Graham draws on cutting-edge research linking income
inequality with well-being to show how the widening prosperity gap
has led to rising inequality in people's beliefs, hopes, and
aspirations. The result is an optimism gap between rich and poor
that, if left unchecked, could lead to an increasingly divided
society. Happiness for All? highlights the importance of well-being
measures in identifying and monitoring trends in life satisfaction
and optimism, and demonstrates how hope and happiness can lead to
improved economic outcomes.
For centuries the pursuit of happiness was the preserve of either
the philosopher or the voluptuary and took second place to the
basic need to survive on the one hand, and the pressure to conform
to social conventions and morality on the other. More recently
there is a burgeoning interest in the study of happiness, in the
social sciences and in the media. Can we really answer the question
what makes people happy? Is it really grounded in credible methods
and data? Is there consistency in the determinants of happiness
across countries and cultures? Are happiness levels innate to
individuals or can policy and the environment make a difference?
How is happiness affected by poverty? By economic progress? Is
happiness a viable objective for policy? This book is an attempt to
answer these questions, based on research on the determinants of
happiness in countries around the world, ranging from Peru and
Russia to the U.S. and Afghanistan. The book reviews the theory and
concepts of happiness, explaining how these concepts underpin a
line of research which is both an attempt to understand the
determinants of happiness and a tool for understanding the effects
of a host of phenomena on human well being. The research finds
surprising consistency in the determinants of happiness across
levels of development. Yet there is still much debate over the
relationship between happiness and income. The book explores the
effects of many mediating factors in that relationship, ranging
from macroeconomic trends and democracy to inequality and crime. It
also reviews what we know about happiness and health and how that
relationship varies according to income levels and health status.
It concludes by discussing the potential - and the potential
pitfalls - of using happiness surveys to contribute to better
public policy.
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