Robert F. Kennedy once said that a country's GDP measures "everything except that which makes life worthwhile."
罗伯特·肯尼迪曾说过，一个国家的国内生产总值可以衡量“除了让生活有价值外的一切事情”。
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.
英国投票决定脱离欧盟，预计会致使国内生产总值下滑，现在正是评价他这句话的最佳时刻。
The question of GDP and its usefulness has annoyed policymakers for over half a century.
国内生产总值的问题及其作用已经困扰决策者半个多世纪了。
Many argue that it is a flawed concept.
许多人表示，这是一个错误的概念。
It measures things that do not matter and misses things that do.
它衡量的是一些不重要的事情，却忽略了重要的方面。
By most recent measures, the UK's GDP has been the envy of the Western world, with record low unemployment and high growth figures.
最近数据显示，英国低失业率和高增长数据全都突破纪录，其国内生产总值令西方各国羡慕。
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?
如果真的是一切都进行地很顺利，那么为什么会有1700多万人非要投票脱欧，完全不顾这一行为对国家经济前景的威胁呢？
A recent annual study of countries and their ability to convert growth into well-being sheds some light on that question.
最近关于国家及其将经济增长转化为民众幸福感的年度研究一定程度上表明了这个问题的原因。
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.
关于经济增长是否可以真正改善人民生活方面，英国是被衡量的163个国家中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.
该研究并不仅仅是关注国内生产总值，为了更全面地衡量一个国家的表现，从健康，教育、民权社会参与等方面采用了40多种不同的标准进行衡量。
While all of these countries face their own challenges, there are a number of consistent themes.
尽管所有国家都面临自身的挑战，但有些问题一直存在。
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，08年全球金融危机爆发以后，经济在不断恢复，但在健康，教育等重要指标领域，主要经济体都在持续下滑。
Yet this isn't the case with all countries.
但并不是所有国家都存在这样的问题，
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、收入公平和环境方面有着巨大的改善。
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：当国内生产总值不再作为衡量国家是否成功的唯一标准，世界将变得很不一样。
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，尽管国内生产总值已经成为衡量国家经济活动最普遍的方法，但是仅仅是一种方法，还不足够。
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.
因为，它并没有涵盖一些重要的因素，如环境质量或者教育成果——要知道，这些因素通常才能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.
但是如果决策者重新关注提升幸福感而不是仅仅担心国内生产总值的数据，就能够避免可以预见的经济低迷，实现真正的进步。