1.
The first text “The Sandra Bullock Trade” says that marital happiness is more important than anything else in determining happiness. If you have a good marriage, then no matter how many personal setbacks you have, you will always be reasonably happy. If you do not have a good marriage the no matter how many career triumphs you gain, you will still be unfulfilled. It also says that the relationship between happiness and income is complicated for instance poor nations become happier as they become middle-class. But when they achieved the basic things, the income is not that important anymore. At the same time the text also says that if you join a group it makes you just has happy as if you double your income. In the end the text mentions two impressions, the first one is that from all the research you can see that economic and professional success exists on the surface of life and it comes from interpersonal relationships and that is way deeper and more important. The other impression is that we pay attention to the wrong things. We overestimate the fact that money will make our lives better.
Text number 2 is “But Will It Make You Happy?” it starts with saying that consumers spend more and spend less than they have done in a long time. It also says that new studies of consumption happiness show that people are happier when they spend money on experiences than when they buy material objects. Yet the text says that scholars haven’t found out whether Armani or Dolce Gabbana will make you happier than on another. But on the other hand they have found out that, types of purchases, the type of purchase, their frequency and the timing of spending all have an effect on long-term happiness. But one big finding is that money for experiences gives a longer-lasting satisfaction.
2.
First he mentions Sandra Bullock, she is a very well-known actress, and he starts with giving the reader an impression of David Brooks as a sensationalist. Because