NEWS FLASH

Study: Nations with progressive tax systems have happier people | Republican lawmakers should take note. As Raw Story reports, a new study that compared 54 nations found that “the more progressive a tax system” — a system in which higher incomes have higher tax rates — “the happier citizens are.” After analzying 59,634 people surveyed by Gallup in 2007, the University of Virginia study determined that the happiness correlation was “explained by a greater degree of satisfaction with the public goods, such as housing, education, and public transportation.” “If the goal of societies is to make citizens happy, tax policy matters,” said study leader Dr. Shigehiro Oishi. “Certain policies, like tax progressivity, seem to be more conducive to the happiness of the people.”