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  3. GNP becomes an obsolete measure of progress in a society striving to meet peo

GNP becomes an obsolete measure of progress in a society striving to meet peo

游客2025-05-09  1
问题    GNP becomes an obsolete measure of progress in a society striving to meet people’s needs as efficiently as possible and with the least damage to the environment.  What counts is not growth in output, but the quality of services rendered.【1】Bicycles and light rail, for instance, are less resources--intensive forms of transportation as automobiles are, and contribute less to GNR.【2】But shift to mass transit and cycling for most passenger trips would enhance urban life by eliminating traffic jams, reducing smog, and make cities safer for pedestrians.【3】GNP would go up, but overall wellbeing  would increase--underscoring the need for new indicators of progress.
   Likewise, investing in water-efficient appliances and irrigation systems instead of building more dams and diversion canals would meet water needs with less harm to the environment.【4】Since massive water projects consume resources them efficiency in vestments do, GNP would tend to decline. But quality of life would improve.【5】It becomes clearly that striving to boost GNP is often inappropriate and counterproductive. As ecologist and philosopher Garrett Hardin puts it.【6】"For a statesman to try to maximize the GNP is about as sensible as for a composer of music to try to maximize the number of note in a symphony."
   Abandoning growth as an overriding goal does not mean forsaking the poor.【7】Rising incomes and material consumption are essential to improving well-being in many of the Third World.【8】But contrary to that political leaders imply, global economic growth as currently pursued is not the solution to poverty. Despite the fivefold rise in world economic output since 1951, 1.2 billion people more than ever--live in absolute poverty today. More growth of the sort engineered in recent decades will not save the poor, only a new set of priorities can.
   Formidable barriers stand in the way of shifting from growth to real progress as the central goal of economic policy.【9】Vision that growth conjures up of an expanding pie of riches is a powerful and convenient political too! Because it allows the tough  issues of income inequality and skewed wealth distribution to be avoid.【10】People assume  that as far as there is growth, there is hope that the lives of the poor can be bettered  without sacrifices from the rich. The reality, however, is that achieving an  environmentally sustainable global economy is not possible without the rich limiting their consumption in order to leave room for the poor to increase theirs. [br]
选项
答案 increase→decrease
解析 根据but可知此处句意转折：“GNP国民生产总值上升，而人民生活福利下降。”
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