COUNTLESS years of folk wisdom have been undermined as a new report claims that money can, in fact, buy you happiness.

A study by two U.S. economists, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, at the Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that inhabitants of richer countries are happier than those of poorer ones, The Financial Times reports.

Basing their findings on improved statistics covering more countries, the researchers claim that the higher your GDP, the wider your smile.

The report does not specify how much happiness a pound will buy in the current market or whether, with the weak state of the dollar, it would be more cost-efficient to buy your happiness in the United States. Concerns that the U.K. happiness market will be flooded by cheaply-made overseas contentment imports have so far proved unfounded.

As ever, the last word must go to Spike Milligan: “Money can’t buy you happiness,” he said, flatly contradicting the latest research, “but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.” (SD-Agencies)