Robert F. Kennedy once said that a country's GDP measures "everything except that which makes life worthwhile."

　　罗伯特·肯尼迪曾说，一个国家的GDP衡量的是“除了让生命有价值之外的一切事物”。

　　With Britain voting to leave the European Union, and GDP already predicted to slow as a result, it is now a timely moment to assess what he was referring to.

　　随着英国投票脱离欧盟，而国内生产总值已经预计会因此放缓，现在是评估他这句话的时候了。

　　The question of GDP and its usefulness has annoyed policymakers for over half a century.

　　半个多世纪以来，GDP及其作用的问题一直困扰着政策制定者。

　　Many argue that it is a flawed concept. It measures things that do not matter and misses things that do.

　　许多人认为这是一个有缺陷的概念。它衡量的是无关紧要的事情，而忽略了重要的事情。

　　By most recent measures, the UK's GDP has been the envy of the Western world, with record low unemployment and high growth figures.

　　以最近的数据衡量，英国的GDP一直是西方世界羡慕的对象，它有着创纪录的低失业率和高增长数据。

　　If everything was going so well, then why did over 17 million people vote for Brexit, despite the warnings about what it could do to their country's economic prospects?

　　如果一切进展顺利，那么为什么超过1700万人不顾英国退欧可能对本国经济前景造成的影响而投票支持英国退欧呢?

　　A recent annual study of countries and their ability to convert growth into well-being sheds some light on that question.

　　最近一项针对各国及其将增长转化为幸福感的能力的年度研究，为这个问题提供了一些线索。

　　Across the 163 countries measured, the UK is one of the poorest performers in ensuring that economic growth is translated into meaningful improvements for its citizens.

　　在163个国家中，在确保经济增长转化为对本国公民有意义的提高方面，英国是表现最差的国家之一。

　　Rather than just focusing on GDP, over 40 different sets of criteria from health, education and civil society engagement have been measured to get a more rounded assessment of how countries are performing.

　　为了更全面地评估各国的表现，采用了来自卫生、教育和民权社会参与的40多套不同标准来衡量，而不仅仅是关注GDP。

　　While all of these countries face their own challenges, there are a number of consistent themes.

　　尽管所有这些国家都面临着各自的挑战，但仍有一些一致的主题。

　　Yes, there has been a budding economic recovery since the 2008 global crash, but in key indicators in areas such as health and education, major economies have continued to decline.

　　是的，自2008年全球经济崩溃以来，经济出现了初步复苏，但在健康和教育等关键领域的指标上，主要经济体都继续下滑。

　　Yet this isn't the case with all countries.

　　然而，并非所有国家都是如此。

　　Some relatively poor European countries have seen huge improvements across measures including civil society, income equality and environment.

　　一些相对贫穷的欧洲国家在民权社会、收入平等和环境等方面取得了巨大进步。

　　This is a lesson that rich countries can learn: When GDP is no longer regarded as the sole measure of a country's success, the world looks very different.

　　这是富裕国家可以吸取的教训：当GDP不再被视为衡量一个国家成功与否的唯一标准时，世界看上去就大不相同了。

　　So what Kennedy was referring to was that while GDP has been the most common method for measuring the economic activity of nations, as a measure, it is no longer enough.

　　所以肯尼迪所指的是，虽然GDP一直是衡量国家经济活动的最普遍的方法，但作为一种衡量标准，它已经不再足够了。

　　It does not include important factors such as environmental quality or education outcomes — all things that contribute to a person's sense of well-being.

　　它不包含环境质量或教育成果等重要因素，而这些因素都可以给一个人带来幸福感。

　　The sharp hit to growth predicted around the world and in the UK could lead to a decline in the everyday services we depend on for our well-being and for growth.

　　全世界以及英国，都预测经济增长会受到重大打击，这一打击可能导致我们维持幸福感和经济增长所依赖的日常服务水平下降。

　　But policymakers who refocus efforts on improving well-being rather than simply worrying about GDP figures could avoid the forecasted doom and may even see

　　progress.

　　但政策制定者若能将精力重新集中在提升幸福感上，而不是单纯地担心GDP数据，就能避免预期的厄运，甚至可能实现进步。

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