Can money buy you happiness?

A conversation I recently had with a brilliant professor of a certain business school gave me an impression that he believed money cannot buy happiness.
Economists have always argued on these lines. But there seems more to happiness than what the classical economists argue. It is called consuming memories. What is it?
Two professors in the US coined the term “conceptual consumption” to refer to the fact that we buy concepts, not just the physical goods.
Take the new car that was launched last week. You may have bought it as a mode of transport. Or, perhaps, more as a status symbol — a concept. It is the same reason why people buy a Rolex and not just another cheap watch.Enduring happiness
Economists may be right about these physical objects not getting us enduring happiness. After a while, even the designer car that you bought becomes another piece of steel transporting you across the city.
But that cannot be said of consuming memories. Suppose you take your friend out for an exotic lunch or treat your spouse to a memorable evening. The memory lingers on, for two reasons.
One, you can talk about it when you meet your friend the next time. Or you can re-live the moments with your spouse. You cannot always do that with your physical objects — even your prized car.
And, two, physical objects can be compared. Experiences cannot be. If your neighbour buys a costlier vehicle, your car may not be a status symbol anymore. Your neighbour’s exotic vacation at Aruba, however, does not make your experience of having lunch with your friend or an evening with your spouse any less memorable.
Indeed, behavioural economists argue that they could be linkages between money and happiness.
Their research shows that we are happier when we donate to charity, spend on our friends or loved ones.
Our happiness is, however, short-lived when we splurge on physical objects for ourselves. Can we then say that money used for consuming memories buys us happiness?(The author is founder of Navera Consulting.)