I became a behavioural economist because of this graph:

It shows that happiness remained unchanged even as income doubled. The graph is from the US but the result replicates in other developed and middle-income countries.

It was discovered by Richard Easterlin in 1974 and was dubbed the Easterlin Paradox about a decade later.

Easterlin died last month but his contribution ought to be persistent. An implication of the graph is that we are misusing our rising income. A question that fires me up is how can we consume more wisely?

RIP Richard Easterlin