When wages have stalled for nearly 20 years and I recently came face to face with a tube of toothpaste that was nearly £7 in my local Sainsbury’s, the idea that money can’t buy happiness seems almost offensive. It ultimately comes from a blinkered concept of what money can do. Sure, if you only use your money to buy things, the happiness it provides will be shallow and fleeting. Loosely speaking, yes, Rolexes and rare Labubus have nothing on, say, spending quality time with the people you love. Elon Musk, who is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire, earlier this year tweeted: “Whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about [sad-face emoji].” But just because money can’t buy Musk happiness, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t buy happiness (or at least lay happiness foundations) for the billions of people struggling financially.

Source: The Guardian April 11, 2026 14:31 UTC