everyone has been told that money doesn't make you happy.

yes fine, most people have experienced this feeling on some level. my experience has gone directionally like this:

• 20 years old: "oh man, when I earn $100k, I'll be set"
• 25 years old: "imagine earning $150k, life would be so easy"
• 30 years old: "life is great already, more money just allows freedom and growth"

i'm sure many people (especially me when hit with an unexpected bill) will sit in the more money = more happiness , more vibes state.

anyway, it's not about happiness (sorry) - you need to figure that out separately. what it is about though is freedom. that is very real. more money gives you more freedom, which allows you to:

• spend time doing what you want to do (activities, holidays, learning/growing)
• outsource the things you don't like doing (cooking, cleaning, waiting)
• fix problems (health, family, broken car, house that needs repairs)
• walk into a restaurant with whoever you love, order what you want and not worry about the price

if you're a YES the 4 points above, you have money. so whilst money doesn't fix happiness directly, happiness is definitely downstream of these 4 points (if you're a yes and not happy, optimise more and maybe do therapy)

if you're a NO to all 4 points, then yeah, it's going to be stressful and more tough to get happy.

this is how we operate on an individual level and broadly how most people in society would like to operate, though we've stopped operating like this at a national level (I'm in Australia). Our national leaders (whichever side), spend a-lot of time talk about many different things, most of which isn't more money (in the national context, GDP per capita), though all of which would be solved by more money (higher GDP per capita).

they would argue it's what they focus on, but it isn't.

yes yes, tonne of holes in the "more money fixes everything" view, BUT the richer we are as a society, the more we're able to fix problems in society - thats an undeniable fact.

listening to a podcast on the RSV vaccine for babies (my son ~9 weeks away) and the studies show very clear differences in safety risks of RSV between high income countries and low income countries. same virus, different income country, different outcome.

this is a side point but just one of infinite examples of where more money, more growth = better outcomes.

"In that same time, American living standards have improved by an astonishing 22 per cent. Had Australian living standards improved as quickly, we would be more than $12,000 a year richer on average."

this quote out of Simon Hamilton's AFR article says it all. If you gave $12,000 to a struggling family, this would do MUCH more for them than anything else our government says they're going to do.

so whilst it might not make that struggling family happy, or resolved of their problems, those outcomes are downstream of them being richer.

ps my X is @harro_sc - reach out to critique or chat