Mad money.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: TILTING at windmills - Brief article

Slate has published a fascinating series of articles by our former editor Tim Noah on the history of income inequality in the last century (see "The Great Divergence," Slate. com). It peaked in the 1920s under Coolidge and Hoover and underwent explosive growth under Ronald Reagan and Bush I, declined a bit under Bill Clinton, and escalated again under George W. Bush.

What fascinated me the most about the history is how each period of growth in inequality coincided with times when making money became a really, really important goal for many of us. During these periods, the assumption seemed to have been that money would buy happiness. Yet a recent study based on data from polling of 450,000 people at all income levels shows that once household income has risen above $75,ooo, factors other than income determine how you feel getting up in the morning.

On the other hand, the study did find that money...