I recently read the Nancy Gibbs column in Time magazine entitled ‘The Happiness Paradox” and it sort of got me thinking. From a quick look online, there are literally hundreds of books on the uplifting subject of happiness and hardly a day goes by without the results of another study being launched on the topic.

But the basic question posed by the Time article remains – namely, why is it that Americans appear to be happier in this recession than they have been in previous ones? (more…)