The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain Since 1950Since the 1940s Americans and Britons have come to enjoy an era of rising material abundance. Yet this has been accompanied by a range of social and personal disorders, including family breakdown, addiction, mental instability, crime, obesity, inequality, economic insecurity, and declining trust. Avner Offer argues that well being has lagged behind affluence in these societies, because they present an environment in which consistent choices are