The US economy outperforms others, but money doesn't always buy happiness.

The US has grown three times as fast as its largest comparable economies in the G7, which include Japan, Germany and the UK. In the 1990's the US was 40% of the G7 pie; today it's more than 50%; according to Economist's Simon Rabinovitz on the Indicator podcast.

Still, Americans are not the happiest which indicates that money doesn't always buy happiness.

Wealth inequality is one part of the problem; not only inequality between the super wealthy and everyone else, but also inequality between those thriving in the middle class and those struggling with housing insecurity and so forth.

Still, most people seem to think that increasing overall wealth, in the economy, will fix the problems. The general feeling that the economy is not doing well is a factor leading to Trump's victory, but some of Trump's policies may undermine success of the American economy.

The cutbacks on immigration could be bad for the growth in labor and consumer markets. If you begin to undermine the rule of law, that can undermine confidence in American markets.

We need a better paradigm for determining the purpose of our economy. Does more volume of wealth necessarily mean a better quality of life? How well does our economy do in terms of promoting health, longevity, scientific progress and stewardship of the environment? These are the bigger questions we need to be discussing. Just money, by itself, doesn't always buy happiness.