Interesting article I dug up when looking for blogworthy materials...
http://www.cis.org.au/Policy/spring05/polspr05-2.htm
Excerpt: "It is a simplification to say that growth does not contribute to happiness. In fact, one of the few things there is a consensus about in this very young field of science is that money does buy happiness. There is an extremely strong correlation between wealth and happiness. Low-income countries report low levels of happiness, middle-income countries report middle levels and high-income countries report high levels."
My commentary: I'm not sure this is necessarily true. It may be true of middle class or upper class people in those affected countries. This may be due to the fact that they have the means to travel internationally and hence compare their relative status to those of similarly situated people in different countries. However, many of the (ostensibly at least) happiest people I've met have been people with little to no possessions.
Your thoughts?