Money refers to the medium of exchange. The mere possession of money does not bring happiness but lies in the delight of achieving it. Categorically money rarely brings happiness for individuals, communities, and countries at large but only does so if people start from the wretched poverty, Bruno and Stutzer (2002). Human beings generally adapt psychologically to their monetary situations instantaneously. The process of adaptation tends to make money less satisfying for individuals who get used to it almost immediately; that is with the increased income it eventually becomes something normal. Economic growth for nations, individuals, and communities can be related to a treadmill, for the rich will be struggling to speed up the treadmill which will hardly arrive closer to the bliss. People are tempted to measure their success relatively and this can be emphasized when one feels to have more money than another person, this one will definitely be happy when he finds to be richer than others, Bruno and Stutzer (2002). The ultimate objective of creating value is a virtue and should not be mistaken as a vice. Therefore money can be viewed as a measure of one’s success and it should not be misinterpreted as a factor that brings happiness, Richard (2005).
It is a common trend that rich entrepreneurs will continue investing their time to working so hard. Investment is a production process for will it bring about goods and services that can be sold to the market and in the process, the owner of the business makes some profit. People who have business prospects will undoubtedly invest what they have earned to create more money. People who have succeeded in what they do will always continue to keep that trend. However, success as opposed to having more money really defines why the super-rich will continue working, Robert (1999). Money is very important for the lives of people for it does improve the welfare of an individual and the society as a whole. Money should be pursued but people should try as much not to confuse it with what is intended to quantify and in the end maximizing a wrong thing, John (1936).
People should not leave behind in the equation all the varied kinds of success one has achieved like friendships, spiritual and family lives, and many more that money cannot measure. Hence happiness has to avoid the measuring error of materialism. The opportunity cost of making money is the value forgone in terms of other commitments. An individual will pursue the activity of making money if the opportunity cost is high and vice versa. However, the marginal utility of money will tend to reduce as one makes more money forcing an individual to substitute it with other commitments like meeting friends, going to church, etc, John (1936).
The standard of living is measurable by things like the real income per person and the rate of poverty. The other measures that can be related to a decent standard of living are the access to and quality of healthcare and the standards of education, Albert (1977). The aspect of the standard can be differentiated with quality life for the standard takes into account both the material standards and another intangible aspect that encompasses human life and such things include leisure, safety, social life, environmental quality issues, physical health, and many more. It is imperative that various measures of society’s well-being be instituted to make sound judgments that often than not are political and therefore very controversial. It is observed that even two societies or two nations that have common material standards of living, the quality of life dimensions may render one place more habitable to a given group than the other.
In conclusion, we can summarily say that growth rate refers to simply the rate at which the real GNP tends to increase. It is has been a trend that with a high growth rate goes lower unemployment resulting in massive creation of jobs. Hence with a high growth rate, production of goods and services will increase leading to improvement in the living standards of people, Albert (1977).
References
Robert, F. Luxury Fever. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999.
Bruno, F and Stutzer, A. Happiness and Economics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Albert, H. The Passions and the Interest: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977.
John Maynard, K. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. London: Macmillan, 1936.
Richard, L. Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. New York: Penguin.Lykken, 2005.