Happiest States Veer Red

The first serious multivariate analysis of happiness by state - one that controls for individual characteristics like education and income finds (shock of shocks) that the less taxed and less "blue" one's state is, the happier people are. It also shows that people would prefer to be warm than cold (although nanny state CA scores a dismal 46th out of 51).

Now those who have read me in the past know that I am skeptical about league tables - they are notoriously sensitive to ex ante model specification problems (in other words, they are easily rigged for the outcome one wants). That being said, this is the first serious, refereed journal article on the topic that I've seen and it seems to be very credible.

It also supports my preconceived opinions, which doesn't hurt.