????人們總說金錢買不到幸福，但一項新的研究表明幸福也是可以買到的。實際上，一個人擁有的金錢越多，就會越幸福。

????這對一部分人來說可能是很明顯的道理，但長期以來的研究都告訴我們幸福不僅是金錢的富足。早在上世紀70年代，經(jīng)濟學家理查德?伊斯特林就曾經(jīng)指出，人們的幸福感并沒有隨著不斷增加的人均收入而提高，這就是后來被人們所熟知的“伊斯特林悖論”（Easterlin Paradox）。這些年來，這個悖論逐漸演變成一種新的觀念：金錢確實能買到幸福，只是一旦收入能滿足購買衣服和食物之類的必須品時，它對幸福的影響便開始慢慢降低。

????這個觀念漸漸流行開來，但從來沒有得到過嚴謹?shù)淖C明。

??? 如今，美國密歇根大學（University of Michigan）的經(jīng)濟學家賈斯廷?沃爾弗斯和貝齊?史蒂文森研究了超過150個國家的數(shù)據(jù)，數(shù)據(jù)來源包括世界銀行（World Bank）和蓋洛普世界民意調查（Gallup World Poll）。這對夫妻檔研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，無論人們目前是貧窮或富裕，他們都覺得財富越多越幸福。與先前研究相反的是，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)并不存在使幸福感不再增加財富的臨界值。

????不用說，幸福本身只是個相對的概念。那怎樣算得上是幸福呢？

????正如《財富》雜志（Fortune）資深編輯丹?普里馬克所說的，就連美國的百萬富翁們也還是覺得自己不夠富裕。那么他們就沒有那些只能掙最低工資的窮人開心嗎？

????不是的，只是超級富豪們需要更多的財富才能更幸福，沃爾弗斯和史蒂文森在研究報告中寫道。這份研究報告將在今年5月份的《美國經(jīng)濟評論》（American Economic Review）雜志上發(fā)表。事實上，研究中并沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)不幸福的百萬富翁。幸福這個話題長期以來一直吸引著經(jīng)濟學家的注意力，沃爾弗斯和史蒂文森的分析補充了這個話題的研究成果。

????They say money can't buy happiness, but a new study suggests it actually can. In fact, the more money you have, the happier you are.

????That might sound obvious to some people, but studies have historically shown there's more to happiness than money. In the 1970s, economist Richard Easterlin argued that increasing average income did not raise average well-being, a claim that became known as the Easterlin Paradox. Over the years, the paradox evolved into the notion that money does indeed buy happiness, but that effect fizzles once the income you earn is able to buy your basic needs -- food, shelter, and the like.

????Somehow that idea carried into popular notion but was never really formally tested.

????Now University of Michigan economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson have examined data for more than 150 countries from sources including the World Bank and the Gallup World Poll. The husband-and-wife team found that the more money people have the happier they are, regardless of whether they're rich or poor. And contrary to earlier studies, there isn't a cutoff point where making more than a certain amount doesn't lead to more happiness.

????Needless to say, happiness is a relative term. What does it mean to be happy, anyway?

????Even America's millionaires don't think of themselves as rich, as Fortune's Dan Primack has pointed out. So are they any less happy than poorer folks scraping by earning minimum wage?

????Not exactly. It just takes more money to make the super-rich happier, Wolfers and Stevenson note in their study, which is to be published in the May 2013 American Economic Review. In fact, the study found zero unhappy millionaires. Their analysis adds to the collection of studies on happiness that have long interested economists.