Of course, it's not the case that had the US GDP not grown as much, we would instead have had more of an increase in life expectancy. The American population is

Of course, it's not the case that had the US GDP not grown as much, we would instead have had more of an increase in life expectancy. The American population is unfortunately quite unhealthy by global standards, mainly due to lifestyle issues. Besides, with the US life expectancy at 79 years and the world's best at 85, you're not buying much to begin with. As other commenters are pointing out, it would be nice if there was a better measure of a population's health and happiness; but GDP corresponds to it to a large degree, perhaps up to a certain point of wealth, as you said.