“Rescaling and The Easterlin Paradox (2.0)” by Charlie Harrison
Around 1 month ago, I wrote a similar Forum post on the Easterlin Paradox. I decided to take it down because: 1) after useful comments, the method looked a little half-baked; 2) I got in touch with two academics – Profs. Caspar Kaiser and Andrew Oswald – and we are now working on a paper together using a related method. That blog post actually came to the opposite conclusion, but, as mentioned, I don't think the method was fully thought through. I'm a little more confident about this work. It essentially summarises my Undergraduate dissertation. You can read a full version here. I'm hoping to publish this somewhere, over the Summer. So all feedback is welcome. TLDR Life satisfaction (LS) appears flat over time, despite massive economic growth — the “Easterlin Paradox.” Some argue that happiness is rising, but we’re reporting it more conservatively — [...] ---Outline:(00:57) TLDR(02:11) 1. Background: A Happiness Paradox(04:02) 2. What is Rescaling?(06:23) 3. My Approach: Life Events would look smaller on stretched out rulers(08:10) 4. Results: Effects Are Shrinking(10:46) 5. How much might we be underestimating life satisfaction?(12:42) 6. Implications--- First published: May 26th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/wSySeNZ6C7hfDfBSx/rescaling-and-the-easterlin-paradox-2-0 --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.