A Journal opinion article - Essay Example

This has been the driver of social sites like facebook and twitter. The two issues are commanding a large market and therefore very important in economic development. Many would agree that people want to feel happy. This is quite paradoxical in the economic perspective. Philosophers agree that money is not the sole reason to happiness but rather it is just a means to fulfillment. Through research, it has been noted that the relationship between income in monetary terms and happiness or a feeling of fulfillment is quite complex.

This seems partly affected by the fact that availability of money enables one to afford recreational facilities, holidays, retreats which are deemed to enhance a feeling of happiness. Some opine that having money doesn’t guarantee a feeling of happiness. Therefore this has remained a subject to many economic researchers who try to relate economics and community, or economics and sociology (Frey & Stutzer 63) In many countries today, job creation remains the priority agenda to development. But how does this stimulate economic growth and development?

For instance, having a majority of citizens unemployed fuels society vices like robbery, drug abuse, rape, due to being idle and frustration. From these findings, it’s right to say that job creation is a key aspect to a country’s economic development. This touches on Improvement of other economic drivers as well. This may include industrialization. Job creation seems to be directly proportional to economic growth. Having a huge number of employees being paid by the government translates to high wage bill.

The government will spent more amount of money to settle the salaries and wages. This means more taxes to the citizens so as to raise the money. How job creation and happiness are related is a paradox and complex. The effect of economic growth in relation to happiness differs from one country to another. Nevertheless, we can broadly categorize these into developed and developing countries. In developed countries, majority of its citizens can comfortably afford basic needs like clothing, housing, food, medical care.

However, this is a problem to citizens in developing countries. They barely afford three meals a day, good shelter, decent clothing, medical care and basic education. This may be a crucial parameter in determination of happiness. The two categories of citizens perceive economic growth and happiness differently (Frey & Stutzer 78) In developing countries, challenges faced also include pollution, depletion of non-renewable natural resources and generally, environmental degradation. This seems to fuel and accelerate the incidence of disease.

Epidemiological studies and findings show that there is higher disease prevalence in these countries. High deaths may be recorded and this translates to disillusion and unhappiness. From the scenario, the affected people will incur more expenditure in pursuit of medical services and treatment. Cash flow will be altered at family level, cumulatively affecting the economic landscape of the entire community. Therefore the wellbeing of a person or group of people affects the economic development of the entire niche.

The aspect of social wellbeing and economic growth tend to intertwine. Politics is a major factor to economics. Political stability or instability determines the investment patterns of a country. Leadership plays a role in public policy which may favor economic growth or derail it. Unstable governments leadership systems tend to repel