From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Money, the key to happiness, or the root of all evil.

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

In a put-down of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway once wrote, the very rich are different

from you and me. They have more money. But ever since Adam Smith's wealth of nations in 1776,

Western economies have been based on growth and prosperity as the keys to happiness. On the day after Christmas, with the

U.S. heading into a major recession, it's worth asking if that's really true. One study says

Puerto Ricans are happier than Germans or Japanese. How come? Is a simpler, more frugal life,

more satisfying after all? On reporter's notebook later on, overcoming the fear of numbers. First,

here's the news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the

Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John

D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation, supporting social entrepreneurs around the world,

uncommon heroes dedicated to the common good. Learn more at scole.org.

Hello again, Mormon Alney, back with To the Point. Is money the key to happiness or the root of all evil?

If growth and prosperity don't provide a sense of well-being, what will? With an economic crisis already underway, we'll take a new look at the way happiness is measured and how it's achieved in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

On reporter's notebook, numbers. What do they really mean in the news, in politics, and in real life?

First is news update. Just the way bad weather backs up the airlines.

A decline in consumer spending leaves inventories in place and backs up supply lines.

One sign of the effort to get things moving is that post-Christmas sales this year happened before Christmas.

Diane Molenkoff is Associate Professor of Marketing and Logistics at the University

of Tennessee at Knoxville, and Professor, good to have you on our program.

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