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Nor does economic progress broadly defined correspond to human progress.
廣義的經濟進步也并不與人類的進步相一致。
GDP does not measure welfare; and wealth does not equal happiness.
國內生產總值并不能衡量福祉；財富也不等于幸福。
Rich countries are, by and large, happier than poor ones;
一般來說，富裕國家的人們比貧窮國家的人們幸福一些；
but among developed-world countries, there is only a weak correlation between happiness and GDP
但在發達國家里，幸福和國內生產總值只有微弱的聯系。
And, although wealth has been soaring over the past half a century, happiness, measured by national surveys, has hardly budged.
況且，雖然在過去半個世紀里財富一直在飛速增長，但是，根據各國的調查，幸福感幾乎原地未動。
This is probably largely because of status-consciousness.
這很可能多半是由人們對地位的意識決定的。
It is good to go up in the world, but much less so if everyone around you is going up in it too.
在世界上能出人頭地的感覺是很好的，但如果你身邊的每個人也都出人頭地了，這種感覺就會差很多。
Once they have filled up their bellies and put a roof over their heads, people want more of what we call "positional goods."
一旦食可果腹，居有定所，人們 就想要更多所謂的“能夠顯示身份、地位的商品”了。
Only one person can be the richest tycoon.
世界上只能有一個人是最富有的大亨。
As wealth grows, the competition for such status only becomes more intense.
隨著財富的增加，爭奪這個地位的競爭只會變得更加激烈。
