Andrew Oswald of Warwick University is a rare economist in that much of his work can be understood by ordinary humans.

Through surveys and questionnaires administered to many people in many countries, Oswald has explored the relationship between economics and happiness. "Economics is not intrinsically interesting," he says -- an observation obvious to all except, I imagine, other economists. "Economic things matter only insofar as they make people happier." This belief has led him to some interesting insights:

1. Income level has little impact on happiness. Sure, all else equal, rich people tend to be happier than poor people. But individual happiness appears similarly distributed across rich countries and poor ones. Income in the U.S. has steadily risen, for instance, but individual happiness has not.

2. Unemployment, however, really makes people unhappy. The suicide rate -- surely an indicator of unhappiness -- rose during the Great Depression and has been increasing in almost all Western countries since the '70s, another period of high unemployment.

3. Marriage is good for you. It has a greater impact on longevity than does income. In fact, Oswald says, a good marriage is worth about $100,000 a year more than being widowed or separated. Marriage is so good for you it actually reduces the risks of smoking. "If you must smoke," Oswald counsels, "get married."

4. Divorce can also be good for you. It is, of course, traumatic in the short run. But people abandoning bad marriages tend to be much happier two years after their divorces than they were two years before.

5. A comparison of men and women from similar socio-economic backgrounds reveals that women tend to be happier than men. What do they know that we don't?

6. Adult happiness is U-shaped. It increases up through young adulthood to the mid-20s or so. Then it starts to decline, bottoming out in the mid-30s or 40s. (So much for the "prime-of-life" notion.) Happiness then begins to increase through the 50s and 60s; after that, the statistics get vague as health issues enter the picture.

What does all this mean in a practical sense? Well, if you could somehow remake the economic structure of the world, it would focus less on the acquisition of wealth and material things. That's not likely to happen soon, so Professor Oswald offers the following advice:

1. Keep your job.
2. Find the right spouse and stay married.
3. Be a woman.

Good luck!

To learn more about the work of Andrew Oswald, visit http://www.andrewoswald.com.