France Wants Happiness Included in Progress Measures
法国提议把幸福指数纳入经济指标
As countries begin emerging from the global financial crisis, France is proposing to measure progress in a new way - one that includes happiness and well being, as well as traditional economic benchmarks.
随着各国逐步走出全球金融危机，法国提出了一个衡量经济进步状况的新方式--除了传统的经济标准之外，也把人们的幸福和福祉纳入经济指标。
By standard measures, the world has certainly been going through some tough times. But do these indicators capture all facets of progress? According to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the answer is 'no.'
按照传统的衡量经济状况的方式，世界确实渡过了一些艰难的时日。可是这些经济指标是否反映了经济进步的所有层面呢？根据法国总统萨科齐，答案是否定的。
Mr. Sarkozy announced France will begin including less tangible indicators, like happiness and well being, into its measurements of economic progress.
萨科齐总统宣布，在衡量经济进步时，法国将开始使用一些不太具体的指标，比如幸福和福祉。
The French President said the current crisis does not just give the international community the freedom to imagine another economic model, it obliges the world to do so. We do not have the choice, he said.
这位法国总统说：“目前的经济危机不仅给了国际社会设想另一个经济模式的自由，而且也给了世界这样做的责任。我们没有选择。”
Mr. Sarkozy's remarks coincided with the publication of a new report by two Nobel economists, Joseph Stiglitz and Armatya Sen, that looks at non-traditional ways at measuring social progress. The report was commissioned by the French government.
就在萨科齐总统说这番话的同时，两位诺贝尔经济学奖得主，约瑟夫.斯蒂格利茨(Joseph Stiglitz)和阿玛蒂亚.森(Amartya Sen)发表了一份新的报告，对衡量社会进步的传统方式进行评估。这份报告是受法国政府的委托而编撰的。
The report recommends shifting the ways policymakers look at progress from what economists call gross domestic product, or GDP, which is a general measure of goods and services produced in a country. The new indicators also would include non-material 'wealth', like access to education and health care.
报告建议，政策制定者根据国内生产总值来衡量经济进步的方式需要改变，因为国内生产总值GDP所衡量的只是一个国家制造的产品和服务。新的指标还要包括非物质性财富，比如接受教育和医疗的程度。
France is not the first country to look at the non-material aspects of progress. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan emphasizes a concept it calls 'gross national happiness,' rather than GDP. Bhutan's main research center collects a wide variety of data to measure this, including things like psychological well being, good governance, ecological diversity and living standards.
法国并不是头一个检测经济进步非物质层面的国家。喜马拉雅山王国不丹就提出了一个“国民幸福总值”的概念，来取代国内生产总值。不丹主要的研究中心还收集了大量各种各样的数据来衡量国民幸福总值GNH，其中包括心理上的良好感觉、良好的管理、生态多样性和生活水准。
In France, Mr. Sarkozy says focusing too much on gross domestic product as the main measure of prosperity contributed to the financial crisis. He wants other countries to follow France's example in looking at less materialistic indicators of progress.
在法国，萨科齐总统说，把注意力过多地集中在国内生产总值上，并且以GDP作为衡量经济繁荣的主要尺度，对于金融危机起到了推波助澜的作用。他希望其他国家都能像法国一样，开始关注那些物质性较少的经济指标。
