2024年4月27日发(作者：)

2017-1Text3

yoncesaidthatacountry’sGDPmeasures“everythingexceptthatwhichmakeslife

worthwhile.”

WithBritainvotingtoleavetheEuropeanUnion,andGDPalreadypredictedtoslowasaresult,itisnowa

timelymomenttoassesswhathewasreferringto.

2-ThequestionofGDPanditsusefulnesshasannoyedpolicymakersforoverhalfacentury.

Manyarguethatitisaflawedconcept.

Itmeasuresthingsthatdonotmatterandmissthingsthatdo.

Bymostrecentmeasures,theUK’sGDPhasbeentheenvyoftheWesternWorld,withrecordlow

unemploymentandhighgrowthfigures.

Ifeverythingwasgoingsosowell,thenwhydidover17millionpeoplevoteforBrexit,despitethe

warningsaboutwhatitcoulddototheircountry’seconomicprospects?

3-Arecentannualstudyofcountriesandtheirabilitytoconvertgrowthintowell-beingshedssomelight

onthatquestion.

Acrossthe163countriesmeasured,theUKisoneofthepoorestperformersinensuringthateconomic

growthistranslatedintomeaningfulimprovementforitscitizens.

RatherthanjustfocusingonGDRover40differentsetsofcriteriafromhealth,educationandcivilsociety

engagementhavebeenmeasuredtogetamoreroundedassessmentofhowcountriesareperforming.

4-Whileallofthesecountriesfacetheirownchallenges,thereareanumberofconsistentthemes.

Yes,therehasbeenabuddingeconomicrecoverysincethe2008globalcrash,butinkeyindicatorsinareas

suchashealthandeducation,majoreconomieshavecontinuedtodecline.

Yetthisisn’tthecasewithallcountries.

SomerelativelypoorEuropeancountrieshaveseenhugeimprovementsacrossmeasuresincludingcivil

society;incomeequalityandtheenvironment.