# How a close look at the American Dream turned a top happiness expert into a specialist in despair: ‘It’s harder to be poor in a very rich country’

- Source: Fortune
- Published: 2026-10-24T10:00:00+00:00
- Category: Business
- Original: https://fortune.com/2026/10/24/american-dream-happiness-despair-hope-carol-graham-brookings-maryland/
- Canonical: https://groundlevelnews.com/story/how-a-close-look-at-the-american-dream-turned-a-top-happiness-expert-i-74f695/

Brookings’ Carol Graham has spent decades measuring outcomes. Here's how her study of happiness led to work on despair — and what hope has to do with it.

_Ground Level News shows a short summary only; the full article and all rights belong to Fortune._