文档介绍：READING
COLLOQUIUM ON TAX POLICY
AND PUBLIC FINANCE
SPRING 2005
PROFESSOR THOMAS D. GRIFFITH
University of Southern California Law School
PROGRESSIVE TAXATION AND HAPPINESS
April 14, 2005
UCLA School of Law
Room 2448
Time: 3 to 5 .
PROGRESSIVE TAXATION AND HAPPINESS
Thomas D. Griffith*
Abstract: This Article explores the optimal level of income redistribution
by examining the potential welfare gains from redistributive tax and
spending policies. Drawing on recent research on human happiness, this
Article argues that while wealthy nations are generally happier than their
poorer counterparts, neither national nor individual economic growth
appear to have an appreciable impact on the subjective well-being of the
citizens of relatively wealthy nations. Significant causes of this finding
include the problem of rivalry—that increases in the income of some
depress the happiness of others—and the fact that individuals
overestimate the degree to which additional consump