考研英语经济学人文章阅读训练十五

Money really can buy happiness and recessions can take it away

金钱确实能够买到幸福，而经济衰退又会将幸福带走

Polls from145countries show that citizens of wealthier ones are more satisfied and secure

来自145个国家的民意调查显示，富裕国家的民众对生活更满意，也更有安全感Gross Domestic Product(GDP),the most common gauge of national prosperity,has taken a lot of flak in recent years.Critics say that counting a country’s spending on goods,services and investment misses the full value that citizens get from products such as Google and Facebook.They also note that GDP ignores other aspects of development,including personal health,leisure time and happiness.

国内生产总值（GDP）是衡量一个国家繁荣程度最常用的指标，然而近年来却饱受争议。批评者认为，GDP仅仅衡量了一个国家在商品、服务和投资中创造的价值，而完全忽略了人们从谷歌和脸书等产品中获得的价值。此外，他们还指出，GDP忽略了包括个人健康、闲暇时光和幸福感等在内的衡量国家发展的其他方面指标。

These criticisms probably exaggerate GDP’s failure to capture the wealth of nations.Gallup,a pollster,has asked people in145countries about various aspects of well-being.Many of these correlate strongly with GDP per person.To take an obvious example,nearly all residents in the top 10%of countries by spending say they have enough money for food, compared with just two-fifths of those in the bottom10%.

这些批评声可能夸大了GDP未能体现国家财富的问题。民意调查机构盖洛普就幸福的有关方面对145个国家的民众进行了调查。其中许多方面都与人均GDP密切相关。举个显而易见的例子，在消费水平排名前10%的国家中，几乎所有被调查者都表示他们有足够

的钱去购买食物，而在排名后10%的国家中，只有40%的被调查者表示有足够的钱去购买食物。

Strikingly,many non-financial indicators also track GDP per person closely. Residents in the top10%of countries score their life situation as seven out of ten,compared with just four for those in the bottom10%.They are also more likely to feel supported by their families,safe in their neighbourhoods and be trusting of their politicians—though they complain nearly as much as people in poor countries do about a lack of rest and affordable housing.

更为显著的是，许多非财务指标也与人均GDP密切相关。消费水平排名前10%的国家的居民给自己生活状况的打分为7分（满分为10分），而排名后10%的国家的居民只打了4分。此外，高消费水平地区的民众也更有可能感受到家庭的温暖、社区的安全以及对政府的信任，尽管他们和贫穷国家的人们一样，也会抱怨缺乏休息和买不起房。Scholars disagree over the extent to which national wealth itself causes contentment.Some countries’citizens have remained glum even as GDP per person has risen,a paradox noted by Richard Easterlin,an American economist.But one way of testing if money buys happiness is to analyse what happens when it goes away.

对于国家财富本身能够带来多大程度的满足感，学者们意见不一。美国经济学家理查德·伊斯特林指出，尽管一些国家的人均GDP有所上升，但民众仍然不快乐。但检验金钱是否能够买到幸福的一种方法就是看看金钱消失后会发生什么。

Studies of the previous global recession in2009suggest that economic hardship does indeed lead to emotional woe.Academics found dips in life satisfaction and other measures of well-being in the United States and

several European countries,though the effects were mainly limited to people who lost their jobs.

一项关于2009年全球经济衰退的研究表明，经济下行确实会导致人们情绪上的悲痛。研究人员发现，在美国和欧洲一些国家，生活满意度以及其他一些衡量幸福感的指标都有所下降，不过这种影响主要局限于失业者。

Adam Mayer of Colorado State University found that among Europeans of similar wealth and education,those who had recently become unemployed and struggled to buy staple foods had the worst outlook on life.

科罗拉多州立大学的亚当·梅尔发现，在财富水平和教育水平相当的欧洲人中，那些最近失业且无力购买主食的人对生活前景最为悲观。

Covid-19will allow economists to probe this pattern further.The IMF’s latest forecast points to a fall in global GDP,weighted by purchasing-power parity,of4.9%this year.If past recessions are any guide,the severe shock will have long-lasting effects.

新冠肺炎将促使经济学家就这一模式进行深入探索。国际货币基金组织的最新预测指出，今年全球GDP（以购买力平价衡量）或将同比下降4.9%。如果以过去的经济衰退为鉴，那么这次严重的冲击将会产生持久的影响。

Economies will eventually grow larger than they were before the pandemic,but will be less rich than they would have been otherwise.The virus’s human toll is therefore vast in terms of deaths and dollars.But given the correlation between GDP per person and Gallup’s measures of well-being,it may have an enduring impact on the world’s quality of life too.

各国经济规模最终将会进一步扩大，但富裕程度会低于疫情发生前的水平。因此，就死亡人数和经济损失而言，新冠病毒给人们造成的伤害是巨大的。但考虑到人均GDP与盖洛普幸福指数之间的相关性，它可能也会对各国人民的生活质量产生持久的影响。(红色标注词为重难点词汇)