Less GDP, more social well-bing
It seems that the French way of life is superior to what the rest of us are going through.
Holidays are important to the French, and Parisians have decamped to their holiday homes on the Cote d'Azur for four weeks of cocktails and sunsets. Along with their healthcare system and their 35-hour work week, this August tradition is the envy of Europe.
And the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has said that this is how a country should be judged. He has also called for a "great revolution" in the way that national wealth is measured. Society, he said, is obsessed with its "religion of statistics".
However, a nation shouldn't be judged on its GDP (gross domestic product, the basic measure of economic performance) but on individual well-being.
国家应该以人民的福利保障为衡量指标，而非以GDP为指标。（赞）
"France will fight to get all international organizations to modify their statistical methods," Sarkozy announced. "France will urge its European partners to set an example and will therefore modify its own systems."
His statement comes after a new report from an international panel of economists, which said that financial success is a poor indicator of national well-being.
经济的成就无法说明国家人民的幸福程度。 （赞）
“There's no single number that can capture anything as complex as our society,” remarked the Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, in an interview with AFP.
"GDP was originally created as a measure of economic activity but has increasingly become used as a measure of social well-bing. It wasn't designed for that and it doesn't measure that," Stiglitz said.
One example, from the report, of how the current GDP system can mislead people is this: An increase in fuel consumption can boost GDP even if it increases traffic jams and pollution.
燃油消耗量的提高能使GDP数字飙升，即使它带来交通阻塞和污染问题！ （赞）
In China, some system reforms have already begun taking place.
Some local governments, such as Jiangyin, Jiangsu province, have adjusted the official evaluating system. They are adding a "happiness" rating alongside the GDP. But some argue that "happiness" is too abstract an idea, and that it would be too hard to work out practical standards for it. Also, reforming the current system will take time and patience.
要想改革目前中国以GDP指标衡量政绩的方式，还需要等待和耐心。
The international report suggested new indicators to include: work/life balance, education standard and environmental protection. That is , alongside economic output. They proposed that countries publish an annual report that includes figures on the gender divide, class inequality, and family spending power.
If it's applied, the new system could cause a reshuffle of the world table. While France's rating would rise in the world standing, the US' - with its long work week, racial divide, and no state healthcare system - would fall.
如果经济排名以新确立的指标来衡量，那么世界将从新洗牌。 法国在世界上的排位将提高；而美国就会因为工作时间长，种族间收益差异大，没有国立性的卫生保健体系而排位落后。
Vocabulary about social welfare: 福利词汇
带薪假
养老保险
医疗保险
失业保险
工伤保险
生育保险
产假
住房公积金
退休金
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