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ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ
ВЫСШАЯ ШКОЛА ЭКОНОМИКИ
Пермский филиал
Под редакцией кандидата филологических наук
С. О. Глушаковой, Marcia A. Rauch, M.A. (TESOL EFL
Fellow, sponsored by the Public Affairs Section,
U.S. State Department)
Рекомендовано Научно-методическим советом
по иностранным языкам Министерства образования и
науки Российской Федерации в качестве учебного пособия
для студентов, обучающихся по экономическим специальностям
ББК 81.2Англ-923
Авторы-составители:
Антинескул О.Л., Глушакова С.О., Георгиева Н.Ю.,
Егорова И.В., Королева О.Л., Костарева Е.В., Маслова С.М.,
Пахомова О.С., Пермякова Т.М., Рачева И.А., Садикова Т.Б.,
Ухова Т.В., Халезова Е.Н., Шевелева М.С.
Целью учебного пособия является обучение аспекту «English for Specific Purposes» на первых двух курсах экономических вузов и факультетов. В задачи обучения входит развитие навыков чтения и перевода текстов общеэкономической направленности. К текстам прилагаются задания, способствующие более глубокому пониманию текстов и содержащихся в них экономических понятий и терминов, закреплению терминологического и понятийного аппарата для дальнейшей работы по ESP. Учебное пособие содержит также набор текстов, объединенных общей тематической направленностью и позволяющих контролировать усвоение базового материала.
Печатается по решению Учебно-методического совета Пермского филиала Государственного университета –Высшей школы экономики.
Рецензенты:
доктор пед. наук Гейхман Л.К., зав. кафедрой
прикладной лингвистики и информационных
технологий образования ПГТУ
доктор фил. наук Кузменкова Ю.Б., зав. кафедрой
английского языка факультета «Менеджмент» ГУ-ВШЭ
ISBN 5-88187-286-X
Коллектив авторов, 2006
Пермский филиал ГУ-ВШЭ, 2006
ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ
Предлагаемое учебное пособие предназначено для студентов I-II курсов специальностей «экономика» и «менеджмент» специализированного вуза и является результатом опыта преподавания английского языка на факультетах «Экономика» и «Менеджмент» Пермского филиала ГУ-ВШЭ. Пособие рассчитано ориентировочно на 60 часов годовых аудиторных занятий.
Целью данного пособия является развитие навыков чтения и перевода текстов общеэкономической направленности, выработки навыков понимания содержания иноязычного специального текста, которое дополняется формированием умения грамматически и лексически правильно оформлять речевые высказывания в процессе перевода, различных видов коммуникации и профессионального общения.
В рамках указанной цели учебное пособие делится на четыре части. В первой части содержатся аутентичные тексты по экономике. Первым этапом работы с текстами является их чтение и перевод. Второй этап включает выполнение заданий, способствующих более глубокому пониманию текстов и содержащихся в них экономических понятий и терминов. Вторая часть может использоваться при аудиторном контроле и/или самоконтроле студентов. Эта часть предназначена для работы над пониманием англоязычного экономического текста и содержит тексты, аналогичные по тематике текстам первой части, что позволяет контролировать усвоение базового материала.
Тематическое единство и равновеликая сложность заданий составляют внутренний принцип преемственности данного учебного пособия. Кроме того, в третьем разделе задания по чтению составлены с учетом проверки умений студентов находить искомую информацию, оперировать перифразом, сопоставлять данные, критически осмысливать и генерализировать содержание –все эти умения и навыки включены в Европейскую схему компетенций изучающего иностранный язык. К вышеупомянутым разделам прилагается глоссарий экономических терминов. Четвертый раздел учебного пособия представляет собой теоретическую часть с широким диапазоном справочных и практических материалов по грамматическим вопросам перевода. Эта информация, включающая основные правила перевода, необходима для начального этапа работы с пособием –работы по переводу текстов. На первоначальном этапе студенту рекомендуется самостоятельно прочитать и перевести текст, используя справочный материал пособия и словари. В дальнейшем при аудиторной работе могут вноситься необходимые дополнительные коррективы. Преподаватель имеет возможность гибко выстраивать учебный процесс с учетом организационных моментов и конкретных условий обучения.
Part I. Texts on Economics
The Science of Economics
Microeconomics and Microeconomics
The Future of Economics
Economic Systems: Two Important Distinctions
Labour
Unemployment
Supply and Demand
Wants and Utilities
Market
Markets and Monopolies
Money
Pricing
The Problem of Inflation
Banking
Central Banking: An Overview
Loans in the United Kingdom
Market Research
Marketing
Consumer Choice
Part II. Review Tests
TEST 1 (The Science of Economics, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, The Future of Economics, Economic Systems: Two Important Distinctions)
TEST 2 (Labour, Unemployment)
TEST 3 (Wants and Utilities, Supply and Demand)
TEST 4 (Market, Markets and Monopolies)
TEST 5 (Money, Pricing, The Problem of Inflation)
TEST 6 (Banking, Central Banking, Loans in the UK)
TEST 7 (Market Research, Marketing, Consumer Choice)
Part III. Resource Tests
Alternative Market Structures
Free-Market Medicine in Russia. Is the Patient Recovering
Should Health Care Provision be Left to the Market?
Can the Market Provide Adequate Protection for the Environment?
Strategic Trade Theory. An argument for protection?
Concentration Ratios. Measuring the degree of competition
Competitive Advantage and the Small Firm Sector
Growth Through Diversification
The Firm as a Legal Entity
Should Central Bank be Independent of Government?
Are the Days of Cash Numbered? EFTPOS versus ATMs
Regulation US-Style
The Political Business Cycle
Managers and Owners: High Salaries and Corporate Goals
Inequity and Poverty
Technology and Employment. Does Technological Progress Create or Destroy Jobs?
Do People Volunteer to be Unemployed
Part IV. Fundamentals of Translation
Introduction
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Glossary
Bibliography
Economics, like physics or meteorology, is a science to the extent that it comprises a set of analytical principles that work with consistent regularity. Unlike the so-called natural sciences, however, economics is a social science because it studies human behavior rather than the disembodied workings of nature. Thus it is appropriate to describe the subject, by analogy, as a set of tools. Just as a carpenter’s tools may be used to build a house, a printer’s tools to make a book, so an economist uses tools to build understanding –in this case, understanding of human behavior and its consequences. Each social science makes the same claim, however. So what distinguishes economics from its “sister” social sciences, such as sociology or psychology? The unique feature of economics is that it studies human behavior within the context of markets. A market is an institutional arrangement that fosters trade or exchange. Modern economics, therefore, is the study of how markets work –of how value is determined, and how inputs relate to each other in production, for example. But there is a larger set of questions involved: where did the market come from? Is it the only way to organize economic activity? What are its alternatives? How might they work?
The history of economic thought is replete with writers who sometimes addressed the former set of questions (i.e. how markets work) and sometimes the latter (what are its alternatives). Occasionally, but rarely, a writer will address both. Marx was such a writer. Most of the writers who achieved lasting fame as architects of the discipline of economics stuck to the former set of questions, however. So dominant was this tendency that it may be termed mainstream, or orthodox. By contrast, attempts to explore the second set of questions are typically regarded as unorthodox, or outside the mainstream. Surely the market place of ideas encourages variety.
Although others might present the subject differently, the important point that should be derived from any historical survey of the subject is that economics is a vibrant form of intellectual discourse, not a set body of principles.
Even in this new millennium, there is increasing evidence that economics continues to ferment. Even among mainstream economists, gnawing questions persist about the nature, scope and method of economic inquiry, and the value and place of economics among competing social sciences. Disagreement persists about the proper boundaries of the subject, the role of the individual versus the group, the method of analysis to be employed, and the usefulness of the field itself.
TASKS
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Родственная дисциплина, факторы производства, обмен, экономическое исследование, в условиях рынка, обеспечивать торговлю, определять стоимость, метод анализа, альтернатива, масштаб, основное направление.
II. Find words with similar meanings in the text:
Resources required for production, to promote commerce, the way people act, academic discussion, economic research, to remain, a related science, the first of two, to develop, a definite set of concepts, a dominant tendency.
III. Answer the following questions:
1. Why can economics be called a science?
. What kind of science is economics? Why?
. What other social sciences do you know?
. What is the difference between economics and other social sciences?
. What are the two sets of questions connected with modern economics?
. What questions were addressed by the mainstream economists?
. Can Marx be regarded as a mainstream economist?
. What evidence is there that economics continues to develop?
. What are the main areas of disagreement among contemporary economists?
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. To build understanding all economists use the same tools as carpenters and printers do.
. Modern economics studies problems connected only with the market.
. Economics is based on a set body of principles.
. There are a lot of authors addressing both sets of questions mentioned in the text.
. Most scientists agree on the methods and scope of economic research.
V. Render the text in English:
Экономика, подобно родственным социальным наукам (например, социологии), изучает поведение человека. Однако, в отличие от других дисциплин, экономика анализирует поведение человека в условиях рынка. Рынок –это институт, обеспечивающий торговлю и обмен.
Исследованием вопросов, связанных с рынком, занимались многие ученые. Некоторые из них рассматривали проблемы функционирования рынка (данное направление получило название основного, или ортодоксального), другие искали альтернативы рынку. В работах Карла Маркса затрагиваются оба аспекта.
VI. Give a summary of the text.
MACROECONOMICS AND MICROECONOMICS
“Macro” is derived from the Greek word makros meaning “large”. Macroeconomics considers the whole economy from a national point of view. In studying macroeconomics we turn our attention to the major forces acting and interacting within the economy. Macroeconomics in a modern economy is largely a study of government economics. Central and local governments play such a significant role in the formation and application of economic policies that it has become essential for businessmen to appreciate the bases of government economic policy. In former times, and in a very few countries perhaps still today, the free play of market forces was left to decide the level of national income, and the rate of growth of the economy. As a result of this policy of laissez-faire (“let the thing work itself out”) the economy tended to grow in spiral-like movements of business activity. Years of rapid expansion, called “booms”, were followed by years of consolidation and slower progress, called “slumps”. The economy was always growing, but it suffered from cycles of activity spiraling upwards. The more exposed members of society, the poor, and the immigrant, suffered great misery. A cry went out for more conscious control of business activity, and eventually Keynesian economics showed the way to achieve it.
Under this final group of studies we must consider:
a) The national income; what it is, how it may be increased, and how it may be fairly shared;
b) Business cycles; their causes and cures. This involves a study of deflation, inflation, and equilibrium levels of activity in the economy;
c) Problems associated with full employment, structural unemployment, and regional under-employment;
d) The public sector of the economy; its conflict with the private sector and their reconciliation with one another;
e) Public finance;
f) The balance-of-payments problem presents itself mainly at macroeconomics levels;
g) The international implications of national policies and co-operation with other countries.
Though macroeconomics has been defined as the study of the whole, or of the aggregate, of a national economy, the central problem of it in the second half of the twentieth century is the management of prosperity to maximize individual welfare. In fact, the whole economy stands or falls by what is achieved for the individual. If I am not prosperous, what use is it to me that society as a whole is prosperous? What satisfaction do I get, when I am poor, to know that others are rich? If I am unemployed, high levels of general employment do me no good, and what use is the general security if I am insecure?
The application of economic theory to the aggregate level is a process subject to a reasonably high degree of uncertainty. No one can be absolutely sure what the outcome of a particular macroeconomic policy will be. There is though, in practical terms, every reason for the study of macroeconomics. That a point cannot be made 100% clear ought not to detract from the achievement of a highly probable prediction. Business itself is founded upon the principle of exploiting uninsurable risk. Those who operate businesses ought to appreciate what is likely to happen within the national and international economy so that they can reduce the risk element in their own businesses.
Microeconomic analysis offers a detailed treatment of individual decisions about particular commodities. For example, we might study why individual households prefer cars or bicycles and how producers decide whether to produce cars or bicycles. We can then aggregate the behavior of all households and all firms to discuss total car purchases and total car production. Within a market economy we can discuss the market for cars. Comparing this with the market for bicycles, we may be able to explain the relative price of cars and bicycles and the relative output of these two goods. The sophisticated branch of microeconomics known as general equilibrium theory extends this approach to its logical conclusion. It studies simultaneously every market for every commodity. From this it is hoped that we can understand the complete pattern of consumption, production, and exchange in the whole economy at a point in time.
Microeconomists tend to offer a detailed treatment of one aspect of economic behavior but ignore interactions with the rest of the economy in order to preserve the simplicity of the analysis. A microeconomic analysis of miners’wages would emphasize the characteristics of miners and the ability of mine owners to pay. It would largely neglect the chain of indirect effects to which a rise in miners’wages might give rise. When microeconomic analysis ignores such indirectly induced effects it is said to be partial analysis.
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What do macroeconomics and microeconomics consider?
. Why does the study of modern macroeconomics involve governments?
. Is there any interaction of “general” and “individual” in economics? Give your reasons.
. Despite a high degree of uncertainty macroeconomics is necessary to study. Do you agree with the statement or not? Explain your point of view.
. What is the interconnection of macroeconomics and microeconomics?
. What is known as a “partial analysis”?
. John Maynard Keynes said that: “The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else”. (What do you think Keynes meant by this last statement? Do you agree or disagree? Give the reasons that would support your opinion.)
II. Fill in the blanks using the correct term: microeconomics, macroeconomics, microeconomists or macroeconomists:
1. …is concerned with what actions governments can take to achieve desired ends.
. …deliberately simplifies the individual building blocks of the analysis in order to retain a manageable analysis of the complete interaction of the economy.
. …worry about the breakdown of consumer goods into cars, bicycles, televisions, and calculators.
. …prefer to treat cars, bicycles, televisions, and calculators as a single bundle called “consumer goods”.
. …ignore interactions of one aspect of economic behavior with the rest of the economy in order to preserve the simplicity of the analysis.
. The conflict between public and private sectors exists mainly at … levels.
III. Consider which of the following matters might be classified as macroeconomic and which as microeconomic:
1. The size of aggregate output.
. The assortment of commodities to which resources are devoted.
. The distribution of the wealth created by the production of cars.
. The rate of growth of output from one period to another for the economy as a whole.
IV. Match a line in A with a line in B:
|
A |
B |
|
1. Aggregate |
A. the aggregate net product and the sole source of payment for all the agents of production |
|
2. Business cycle |
B. the state of having prosperity |
|
3. Boom |
C. a decrease in the supply of money usually produced intentionally by a government in order to reduce demand and check rising prices |
|
4. Co-operation |
D. a period of increasing business activity |
|
5. Deflation |
E. combining in bringing about the result |
|
6. National income |
F. regularly recurring rhythms of business activity |
|
7. Welfare |
G. bring or come together in a mass |
V. Give a summary of the text.
VI. Render the text in English:
В экономике существуют два основных раздела. В обоих разделах применяются одни и те же основные принципы. Макроэкономика изучает функционирование экономики в целом, сосредоточиваясь на таких вопросах, как инфляция, безработица и рост совокупного выпуска; почему наблюдаются спады и подъемы; почему цены растут быстрее в одном периоде, чем в другом; почему общее число безработных в экономике иногда бывает высоким, а иногда низким. Микроэкономика, наоборот, сосредоточена на изучении функционирования отдельных рынков и их взаимодействия, отдельных экономических элементов –в основном домашних хозяйств и фирм. Упор делается на цены и объемы выпуска конкретных товаров и услуг и на то, как в результате взаимодействия рынков формируется распределение ограниченных ресурсов по миллионам альтернативных направлений использования.
THE FUTURE OF ECONOMICS
Economics is the study of mankind in the everyday business of providing this enormous variety of goods and services. This book has attempted to describe the major aspects of production, distribution and exchange. It is clearly only a beginning to the vast study of specialized aspects of the economy.
Certainly economics is a liberal study. Everyone needs to know some economics, for it explains the framework of prosperity and a liberal life is only possible when prosperity exists. Historically follow the flowering of art, literature and science around the world, and you will find they flourished most where prosperity was to be found. Even today only where the economy is strong can men be spared from production to think sublime thoughts, create beautiful objects, paint immortal pictures, or compose imperishable melodies. The humblest worker in such societies is ennobled by his labour, for it alone makes possible the culture of his times.
Within the last 30 years Thomas Carlyle's characterization of economics as “the Dismal Science” has been invalidated. The new economics can handle the cycles of depression which gave such distress in the early years of the capitalist system. There are still problems to be solved, but reasonable affluence appears to be within the reach of all men if the political and social framework can be adjusted to suit the new situation. No longer do the greatest economists of their age stand aghast at the enormity of the problems. Instead they look blithely and optimistically forward to a future where the stockpiling of consumer goods ceases to be the major preoccupation of men’s minds. When private wealth is assured, social well-being becomes a possibility. We turn from investment in things to investment in man himself.
Part of that investment must include a reappraisal of our attitude to material things. If we are to avoid the exhaustion of the earth’s resources, to preserve natural beauty, to prevent the destruction of our traditional environment and protect what little innocence is left we must examine what economic growth implies for world society. Inevitably controls over economic activity seem bound to increase unless individuals can show restraint. The fullest development of man requires a return to Socratic contemplation of the state of “The Republic”.
TASKS
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Экономический рост, распределение, потребительские товары, материальные потребности, благосостояние, спад, экономический цикл, блага, капиталистическая система, изобилие, услуги, инвестиции, экономическая деятельность.
II. Find words and expressions that mean:
1. a man who is employed to look after a house and lands (old use);
2. a period of time;
3. a prosperous democratic society;
. to spend much time in communication;
. to move violently in a certain direction;
6. fast growth in any sphere of life;
. deathless and timeless things;
. to adapt to new conditions.
III. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Goods |
A. the period that is characterized by high unemployment, low prices, low business activity, etc. |
|
2. Services |
B. the dividing up of something among a number of people or places |
|
3. Consumable goods |
C. the process of giving and receiving by common agreement |
|
4. Production |
D. things in everyday use such as food, clothing, and personal services, such as those of doctors, etc. |
|
5. Distribution |
E. the work done by an employee, consultant or helper of any kind |
|
6. Exchange |
F. all personal movable property other than money |
|
7. Depression |
G. the act of using money to obtain profits |
|
8. Investment |
H. the act or process of manufacturing something |
IV. Divide the text into 4 parts and formulate the main idea of each of them.
V. Answer the following questions:
1. Where does the word “economics” come from?
2. How can the word oikonomos be interpreted?
. How can you describe a slave society and the modern world in terms of prosperity? Give your own examples.
. What is the aim of business?
. What are the three components of business?
. What is the connection between prosperity and a liberal life? Can you explain your point of view?
. How did Th. Carlyle characterize economics? Do you think Carlyle’s definition is still applicable?
. Why is it important for us to change our attitude to material things?
VI. Give a summary of the text.
ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: TWO IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS
Economic systems can be distinguished along many lines, but two are most fundamental. The first is: How is economic activity coordinated –by the market or by the plan?
The question does not, of course, demand an “either, or” answer. Rather the choice extends over a wide range from pure laissez-faire to rigid central planning. Society must decide which decisions it wants made in markets by individual businesses and consumers acting in their own self-interests, and which decisions it wants centrally planned so that businesses and consumers act more “in the national interest”.
The second crucial distinction among economic systems concerns who owns the means of production. Specifically, are they privately owned by individuals or publicly owned by the state? Again, there is a wide range of choice and, to our knowledge, there are no examples of nations at either the capitalist extreme where all property is privately owned or at the socialist extreme where no private property whatever is permitted. For example, while most industries are privately owned in the United States, a few are not. Many business owners face restrictions on what they can do with their capital. Automobile companies must comply with environmental and safety regulations. Private communication and transportation companies may have both their prices and conditions of service regulated by the government. Even in China, where large enterprises are publicly owned, anyone who can afford it can own a car, a bank account, or even a small business.
People tend to merge the two distinctions and think of capitalist economies as those with both a great deal of privately owned property and heavy reliance on free markets. By the same token, socialist economies typically are thought of as highly planned, as were those in the former Soviet bloc.
However, while there is an undeniable association between private ownership in a country and the degree to which it relies on markets, it is a mistake to regard these two features as equivalent. Socialism can exist with markets and capitalism can exist with rigid state planning. So, in thinking abstractly about a society’s choice among economic systems, it is best to keep the two distinctions separate.
History holds examples of planned, capitalist economies-such as Germany under Hitler, Italy under Mussolini, and Argentina under Juan Peron. To a much lesser extent, Japan and the other “Asian tigers” have also planned their capitalist economies-apparently with great success.
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Экономическая система, невмешательство, жесткое центральное планирование, средства производства, частная собственность, сталкиваться с ограничениями, правила безопасности, предприятие, частное предприятие, общественное предприятие.
II. Answer the following questions:
1. What are the two fundamental distinctions of economic system?
. Give examples of the capitalist extreme or the socialist extreme?
. Are all the industries in the US privately owned?
. Can socialism exist with markets and can capitalism exist with rigid state planning?
III. Complete the following sentences:
1. The first fundamental distinction among economic systems is…
. The second crucial distinction among economic systems is…
3. Capitalist economies are based on a great deal of…
4. Socialist economies are thought of as…
IV. Match a line in A with a line in B:
|
A |
B |
|
1. Important |
1. Account |
|
2. Rigid |
2. Business |
|
3. Small |
3. Regulations |
|
4. National |
4. Market |
|
5. Publicly (privately) |
5. Planning |
|
6. Safety |
6. Interest |
|
7. Bank |
7. Owned |
|
8. Free |
8. Distinction |
V. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. There are three fundamental distinctions among economic systems.
. Most industries are privately owned in the US.
. Business owners don’t face restrictions on what they can do.
. In China anyone (who can afford it) can own a small business.
. Socialism can exist with markets.
. There are examples of nations who are at either a capitalist extreme or at a socialist extreme.
. Capitalism can’t exist with rigid state planning.
VI. Render the text in English:
Все экономические системы имеют две фундаментальные отличительные черты. Первая: как координируется экономическая система –рынком или планированием. Вторая: кто владеет средствами производства –государство или частные лица. Смешение этих двух характеристик приводит к появлению таких понятий, как абсолютный капитализм и абсолютный социализм. Однако абсолютного капитализма не существует. Так, в капиталистическом США частные компании могут контролироваться и регулироваться государством, а в социалистическом Китае каждый, кто может себе это позволить, имеет право владеть личной машиной, банковским счетом и даже заниматься мелким бизнесом. Социализм может сосуществовать с рынком, а капитализм может иметь строгое государственное планирование, как Германия при Гитлере, Италия при Муссолини, и в более мягкой форме Япония и другие «Азиатские тигры» также планируют свою капиталистическую экономику.
VII. Give a summary of the text.
LABOUR
“Labour” is the supply of human resources, both physical and mental, which is available to engage in the production of goods and services. The supply of labour depends on two things:
The Working population. The groups who do not work consist of:
Young People. The number of young people available for work varies with the education available. If education is largely a matter of parental instruction and the handing down of techniques from father to son, as in many peasant communities, children will participate in production from an early age. If education is a matter of specialist tuition by professional educators the labour supply will be correspondingly reduced as pupils and students are withheld from the labour force during their schooling.
Retired Persons. The age of retirement affects the supply of labour. If, for example, retirement at the age of 65 is normal, so that perfectly healthy and energetic men and women retire compulsory at that age, the supply of labour is reduced. Many people of retirement age today are quite capable of continuing in productive employment.
The Hours Worked per Year. If the working week is reduced the supply of labour falls, unless the resultant improvement in health enables more efficient labour to take place in the shorter working week. Today reducing the 40-hour week to 35 hours almost certainly lowers the supply of labour. Holiday periods reduce the supply of labour. Some workers prefer extra income to shorter working hours, so that “moonlighting” (doing one job by day and another in the evening) is quite common. “Moonlighting” therefore increases the supply of labour available to entrepreneurs.
The Quality of Labour. More important than the actual supply of labour is the quality of labour. It is skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled. Skilled labour is labour which has either mastered a particular craft, like toolmaking or printing, or has been professionally trained, like doctors, dentists, lawyers, and accountants. Semi-skilled labour is in some way a misnomer, since the operatives who are described as semiskilled have in fact reached very high degrees of skill over a very limited range of activities. Such labour can be very quickly trained, in from 4 to 6 weeks at the most. Unskilled labour, as its name implies, requires little specialized training.
Skilled labour tends to be more specific than semi-skilled or unskilled labour. The idea of “specificity” is an important one in economics. If a factor of production is specific it can be used in only one particular task: for instance, a dentist must be employed in dentistry if his true talents are to be used. If we take a dentist and turn him into the fields to cut sugar cane we shall be wasting his talents. Of course it may do the dentist a world of good to find out what a hard life the cane-worker leads, but this is no substitute for the efficient use of his services in caring for his patients’teeth.
Unfortunately, specialization can have some negative consequences. The most significant drawback is the boredom and dissatisfaction many employees feel when they do the same job over and over. Monotony can be deadening. Bored employees may be absent from work frequently, may not put much effort into their work, and may even sabotage the company. Because of these negative side effects, managers have recently begun to search for alternatives to specialization in the design of jobs. The three most common antidotes to the problems that job specialization can breed are job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.
Job rotation is the systematic shifting of employees from one job to another. For example, a worker may be assigned to a different job every week for a four-week period and then return to the first job in the fifth week. The idea behind job rotation is to provide a variety of jobs so that other workers will be less likely to get bored and dissatisfied. Companies that use job rotation include Ford, Xerox, the Prudential Insurance Co. of America, and the US Nissan subsidiary.
In job enlargement, the worker is given more things to do within the same job. For example, under job specialization, each worker on an assembly line might connect three wires to the product as it moves down the line. After job enlargement, each worker might connect five wires. AT&T, IBM, and the Maytag Co. have all experimented with job enlargement.
Job enrichment is perhaps the most advanced alternative to job specialization. Whereas job rotation and job enlargement do not really change the routine and monotonous nature of jobs, job enrichment does. It is, in essence, providing workers with both more tasks to do and more control over how they do their work. In particular, under job enrichment many controls are removed from jobs and workers are given more authority. Moreover, employees are frequently given new and challenging job assignments. By blending more planning and decision making into jobs, job enrichment builds more depth and complexity into jobs. These changes tend to increase the employee’s sense of responsibility and provide motivating opportunities for growth and advancement.
Factors affecting the efficiency of labour include:
1. The general education and background knowledge of the labour force. If it has been born into the television era of an advanced society it will be knowledgeable, adaptable, and sophisticated. If it has only recently left a peasant community it will be unsophisticated, superstitious, nervous, and slow to adapt itself.
2. The general health of labour force. This may be improved by diet, and adequate welfare services of all sorts. A developing nation’s progress may be slow because a fully effective labour force depends on raising the standard of living. This is a slow process and depends on an efficient labour force. We therefore have a vicious circle, which spirals slowly upwards, but at an increasing pace as the years go by.
3. The incentives offered to labour. Where there are few incentives labour will be less efficient. Where the incentives are great labour will apply itself more assiduously.
4. The availability of other factors of high quality. This is the commonest method of increasing the efficiency of labour. If it is backed by good quality land, labour itself will be more efficient. If it is backed by well chosen tools and adequate power supplies, even a poor labour force will be highly productive.
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Людские ресурсы, общая рабочая сила, предложение труда, пенсионный возраст, обязательный выход на пенсию, дополнительный доход, работа по совместительству, квалифицированный труд, неквалифицированный труд, полуквалифицированный труд, социальные услуги, повышать уровень жизни, стимул, повышать эффективность труда, высокопродуктивный.
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Labour |
A. an individual’s working career at a certain age with the expectation that he or she will no longer undertake paid employment. |
|
2. Job enlargement |
B. having a second job “on the side” during the normal working hours of his or her main employment. |
|
3. Retirement |
C. the monetary and non-monetary elements which together make up a person’s lifestyle. |
|
4. Moon-lighting |
D. any form of pay system which rewards an employee or group of workers in such a way as to induce increased effort of production. |
|
5. Standard of living |
E. the systematic shifting of employees from one job to another |
|
6. Incentive |
F. any competence possessed by someone. In an employment context it often refers to a combination of knowledge and manual dexterity amongst manual workers. |
|
7. Skill |
G. one of the three factors of production. The contribution to productive activity made by the workforce both by hand and mentally. H. giving a worker more things to do within the same job. |
III. Answer the following questions:
1. What is labour?
. What does the supply of labour depend on?
. What are the main population groups “who do not work”?
. How does education influence the number of young people available for work?
. In what way does the age of retirement affect the supply of labour?
. What are the results of reducing of the working week?
. What is “moonlighting”? How does it affect the supply of labour?
. What is more important than the actual supply of labour?
. What is skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled labour?
. How do you understand the idea of “specificity”? Give some examples.
. Enumerate the major factors affecting the efficiency of labour. Speak on each of them.
. Think of possible disadvantages of job rotation, enlargement and enrichment.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Labour is the supply of physical human resources which is available to engage in the production process.
. The number of young people available for work depends on the education available.
. Pupils and students are usually withheld from the labour force if education is a matter of parental instruction.
. Moonlighting decreases the supply of labour available to entrepreneurs.
. The quality of labour is as important as the actual supply of labour.
6. Where there are more great incentives, labour will be more efficient.
7. If labour is supported with well-chosen tools and adequate power supplies, it will be highly productive.
V. Render the text in English:
Человеческий капитал включает врожденные способности и талант, а также образование и приобретенную квалификацию. Человеческий капитал создается тогда, когда человек инвестирует в самого себя. Инвестиции в человеческий капитал со временем окупаются, давая отдачу в виде более высокой заработной платы или способности выполнять работу, приносящую большее удовлетворение. Студенты имеют возможность производить огромные инвестиции в образование, а наниматели могут платить образованным людям больше. Высшее образование не увеличивает производительность работника, однако оно свидетельствует о том, что работник обладает качествами, полезными для фирмы. Образование увеличивает доходы, и поэтому инвестиции, вложенные в образование, окупаются. Однако время, проведенное на работе, также приносит свои плоды. Опытный работник гораздо ценнее для своей фирмы, чем новичок. Работники, имеющие некоторый опыт, являются более производительными, чем неквалифицированные; соответственно с приобретаемым опытом растет и оплата.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Not everyone wants a job. Those people who do are called the labor force. The labor force comprises all those people holding a job or registered as being willing and available for work.
The participation rate is the percentage of the population of working age who declare themselves to be in the labor force. The postwar growth of the labor force has been caused less by an increase in the population of working age than by an increase in participation rates, most notably by married women. The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force without a job but registered as being willing and available for work.
Of course, some people without a job are really looking for work but have not bothered to register as unemployed. These people will not be included in the official statistics for the registered labor force, nor will they appear as registered unemployed. Yet from an economic viewpoint, such people are unemployed. This is an important phenomenon. Economists used to classify unemployment as frictional, structural, demand-deficient, or classical.
Frictional Unemployment. This is the irreducible minimum level of unemployment in a dynamic society. It includes people whose physical or mental handicaps make them almost unemployable, but it also includes the people spending short spells in unemployment as they move between jobs in an economy where both the labor force and the jobs on offer are continually changing.
Structural Unemployment. In the longer run the pattern of demand and production is always changing. In recent decades industries such as textiles and heavy engineering have been declining in the UK. Structural unemployment refers to unemployment arising because there is a mismatch between skills and job opportunities when the pattern of demand and production changes. For example, a skilled welder may have worked for 25 years in shipbuilding but is made redundant at 50 when the industry declines in the face of foreign competition. That worker may have to retrain in a new skill which is more in demand in today’s economy. But firms may be reluctant to take on and train older workers. Such workers become the victims of structural unemployment.
Demand-deficient Unemployment. This refers to Keynesian unemployment, when aggregate demand falls and wages and prices have not yet adjusted to restore full employment. Aggregate demand is deficient because it is lower than full-employment aggregate demand. Until wages and prices have adjusted to their new long-run equilibrium level, a fall in aggregate demand will lead to lower output and employment. Some workers will want to work at the going real wage rate but will be unable to find jobs. Only in the longer run will wages and prices fall enough to boost the real money supply and lower interest rates to the extent required to restore aggregate demand to its full-employment level, and only then will demand-deficient unemployment be eliminated.
Classical Unemployment. This describes the unemployment created when the wage is deliberately maintained above the level at which the labor supply and labor demand schedules intersect. It can be caused either by the exercise of trade union power or by minimum wage legislation which enforces a wage in excess of the equilibrium wage rate.
The modern analysis of unemployment takes the same types of unemployment but classifies them rather differently in order to highlight the behavioral implications and consequences for government policy. Modern analysis stresses the difference between voluntary and involuntary unemployment.
The natural rate of unemployment is the rate of unemployment when the labor market is in equilibrium. This unemployment is entirely voluntary. A worker is involuntarily unemployed if he or she would accept a job offer at the going wage rate. So, frictional, structural and classical types are voluntary unemployment and demand-deficient is involuntary unemployment.
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Рабочая сила, процент рабочих, временная безработица, структурная безработица, классическая безработица, безработица вследствие снижения совокупного спроса, добровольная безработица, вынужденная безработица, структура спроса производства, совокупный спрос, полная занятость, уровень полной занятости, денежная масса, ставка реальной заработной платы, ставка равновесной заработной платы, естественная норма безработицы.
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Unemployment |
A. the proportion of a country’s total population which makes up the country’s labour force. |
|
2. Unemployment rate |
B. a work task or series of work tasks to be performed in order to produce a good or a service. |
|
3. Labour force |
C. the pay made to an employee for the use of his or her labour as a factor of production. It is usually paid on a weekly basis and it will depend on the hourly wage rate and the number of hours which constitute the basic working week. |
|
4. Participation rate |
D. the money payment made to a worker for each “unit” of his or her labour input, usually measured either on an hourly time basis, or for each unit of output produced. |
|
5. Wage rate |
E. unemployment which is due to workers refusing to take paid jobs because they consider that the wage rate for such jobs are too law, particularly in relation to the employment and/or other social security benefits they are currently receiving. |
|
6. Natural rate of unemployment |
F. the non-utilization of labour resources, as a result of which the actual output of the economy is below its potential gross national product. |
|
7. Wage |
G. the total number of workers available for employment in a country. It comprises those people currently working as employees, the self-employed and people currently unemployed. |
|
8. Job |
H. the general rate of unemployment which is consistent with a stable rate of inflation. |
|
9. Voluntary unemployment |
I. unemployment which is due to workers being unable to find paid jobs even though they are prepared to work at current wage rates because there are insufficient jobs available due to recession, or because they don’t have the necessary skills to perform available work. |
|
10. Involuntary unemployment |
J. the number of unemployed workers expressed as a percentage of a country’s labour force. |
III. Answer the following questions:
1. What is labour force?
. What is unemployment rate?
. Who is considered to be unemployed?
. How do economists classify unemployment?
. How is functional unemployment characterized?
. Who becomes a victim of structural unemployment?
. What does demand-deficient unemployment refer to?
. How is classical unemployment described?
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. The labour force only comprises those people holding a job.
. People who haven’t bothered to register as unemployed will not be included in the official statistics for the registered labour force.
. Frictional unemployment refers to unemployment arising because there is a mismatch between skills and job opportunities when the pattern of demand and production changes.
. Demand-deficient unemployment happens when aggregate demand falls and wages and prices have not yet adjusted to restore full employment.
. Classical unemployment arises when the wage is deliberately maintained below the level at which the labour supply and labour demand schedules intersect.
. The natural rate of unemployment is the rate of unemployment when the labour market is in disequilibrium.
. Voluntary unemployment only includes classical unemployment.
V. Render the text in English:
Чтобы измерить безработицу, необходимо знать, сколько людей хотят иметь работу при текущих ставках заработной платы, но в действительности не имеют ее.
Человек, который не работал предыдущую неделю, но был болен, находился в отпуске, бастовал или не мог работать из-за плохой погоды, считается занятым. Человек, ожидающий разрешения возвратиться на работу или приступить к работе на новом месте в течение следующих 30 дней, но не работавший предыдущую неделю, считается безработным.
Существуют три способа потерять работу и стать безработным. Первый –если человека увольняют, поскольку фирма, в которой он работает, закрывается. Второй случай, когда человек временно отстранен от работы. Например, в автомобильной промышленности, когда спрос на автомобили резко понижается, фирма заявляет рабочим, что работы нет, но она надеется нанять их вновь в случае, если спрос возрастет. Третий способ –добровольно оставить работу и стать безработным по собственному желанию.
Безработица растет во время спадови уменьшается в периоды подъемов и роста экономической активности. Каждый раз, когда наступает спад, доля безработных растет. Как только начинается подъем и расширяется экономическая активность, доля безработных снижается.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Demand. If production is undertaken in order to supply the “wants” of mankind demand must be the most basic idea in economics. Every individual demands goods and services. When all the individual demands are put together the resulting composite demand is what the industry must supply if people are to achieve satisfaction. In defining demand economists cannot equate “demand” with “want”, because an industry cannot be expected to supply goods and services without payment. In attempting to discover the demand for a particular commodity we only consider demand that is backed by purchasing power. Man’s wants are unlimited, but his demand for a particular item is very often limited if the price he must pay is too high. The demand for goods or services is therefore that quantity consumers will be prepared to buy at a given price, in a given period of time.
Demand is not fixed, but varies with changing conditions. The demand for silk stockings has been completely altered by the invention of nylon fiber, and the demand for bicycles in advanced nations has been greatly reduced by the development of motor vehicles. The chief factors affecting demand may be divided into the factors affecting the individual consumer or family of consumers and those factors affecting the total demand of the whole market.
a) The Tastes of the Households. Every family is different, and even members of the same family have different preferences. We may demand goods because they satisfy innate wants; or because they are fashionable; or because we have been convinced by advertising that they are desirable. The demand for all such goods will rise, and the demand for goods which are not to our taste or less well promoted will decline.
b) The Income of the Household. Family income is always decisive as to whether a commodity is demanded or not. Many families own a car, some own two cars, and many are resigned to the fact that they will never be in the car-buying income range.
c) The Necessity of the Commodity, and its Alternatives if Any. Some goods are demanded by everyone because they are necessities. Some goods become necessities because they are habit-forming, like tobacco and alcohol. Where a commodity has alternatives it is not a necessity, but the alternative must be in the same price range.
d) The Price of Other Goods. If the price of a commodity is high compared with the price of other goods the demand for it will be relatively weak. If the goods are close substitutes for one another (for instance, motor cycles and motor scooters), the price of one will be seriously affected by a lower price of its competitor.
Factors Affecting the Total Market Demand.
a) The Size and Structure of the Population.
If there are many people to be fed, clothed, and housed demand will tend to be strong, especially if the population is able to back its “wants” with purchasing power. The structure of the population will influence demand for particular items. A bulge in the birthrate for any reason will alter demand as the children born develop through to maturity. In the early years the demand for children’s clothes, toys, etc., will be increased. Gradually the increased demand will change to school books and games equipment, later to cosmetics and motor cars. Finally, an increased demand for wheelchairs and bearing aids may result.
b) The Distribution of Income among the Population.
Some societies are so organized that classes of rich and poor persons appear. Others are organized to achieve greater equality of wealth. A progressive system of taxation, which taxes the rich to help the poor, is often used to achieve greater equality. Market demand will be stronger in egalitarian societies than in those where obvious inequalities exist, for the mass of the people there can back their “wants” with purchasing power.
The Consumer’s Scale of Preferences.
The result of these conditions often called the determinants of demand, is a scale of preferences for each customer. High on each consumer’s scale of preferences come the things he needs most or likes best. Lower on the scale come things he will buy if income permits, once all the more satisfying items have been purchased. The scale changes with the pressure of daily events. We all know of things we have been meaning to buy for years, but somehow their purchase eludes us because more pressing requirements prevent them reaching the top of our scale of preferences. Every consumer subconsciously has a personal demand schedule for each class of goods, which reflects his individual attitudes and inclinations. This schedule takes for granted that the only thing that has changed to alter the demand is the price of the commodity. All other conditions of demand, like family income, or personal taste, or fashion, have not changed. The phrase “ceteris paribus” (“other things being equal”) is often used in economics to describe a situation where only one aspect of situation is deemed to be changed.
Supply. The responses that entrepreneurs make to the demands of consumers bring on to the market a wide variety of goods and services.
The total quantity of a good, or service, made available to the general public as a result of the business decisions of the entrepreneurs in the industry is called the supply of that good or service.
Factors Affecting Supply.
a) The Price of the Commodity.
The price of the commodity affects the prospect of profitability of an enterprise. Every entrepreneur is assumed in economics to be engaged in production in order to achieve maximum profit. He must certainly achieve a normal return on capital invested, or there is no incentive at all to stay in the industry. Good prospects of profitability will encourage him to come in and produce the supplies required. He will expand the production of his enterprise until output reaches such a level that profit is at a maximum.
b) Conditions of Supply.
They are the costs of production, the state of technological development (the more advanced the technology, the greater the flood of supplies that pours on to the market), natural influences (hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, frost, and drought disrupt output) and abnormal political influences (war, strikes, civil unrest, government interference prevent the normal activities of production).
Thus, we must note that just as want is the basis of demand, the prospect of profitability is the basis of supply; and just as consumers vary in their demand for goods, suppliers vary in their ability to supply. This is shown in the Laws of Supply and Demand summarized as follows:
1. When the price of a commodity falls the quantity that is demanded will be increased.
. When the price of a commodity rises the quantity that is supplied will be increased.
. Prices will adjust to that level which equates demand and supply.
. All increased supply lowers market price and causes an extension of demand.
. A decreased supply raises market price and causes a reduction of demand.
. A decreased demand lowers price and also brings about a reduction of supply.
. An increased demand raises price and also brings about an extension of supply.
TASKS
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Спрос и предложение, покупательная способность, товары и услуги, предприниматель, прибыльность (рентабельность) предприятия, вложенный капитал, расширять производство, поставщики.
II. Give one word from the text which matches the following definition:
A thing used instead of something else; things that are desired; any article that can be bought and sold; a person who buys goods; a person who buys goods that he will use himself; the amount of a particular good or service that will be bought by consumers at a given price; all the money coming in to an individual or a business firm.
III. Explain in your own words:
1. The population is able to back its “wants” with purchasing power.
. Many families will never be in the car-buying income range.
. Every entrepreneur must achieve a normal return on capital invested.
. The great flood of supplies pours onto the market.
IV. Answer the following questions:
1. What is the demand for a particular good or service? Distinguish “demand” from “want”.
. What is the supply of particular goods or services? What motivates an entrepreneur to supply a commodity or service?
. What are the determinants of demand and supply?
. What is the basis of a scale of preferences?
. What are the seven laws of demand and supply?
V. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Man’s wants and demands are unlimited.
. Price is decided by the interaction of demand and supply.
. Demand is set.
. If there is an alternative to a commodity, then it is no longer a necessity.
. The price of a substitute cannot seriously affect the price of a good.
. A progressive system of taxation strengthens the purchasing power of consumers.
. The least preferred items are put on the top of the scale of preferences.
. Even when a good is free, the amount wanted will be limited.
9. Supply describes the behavior of buyers.
VI. Explain what will happen to the demand for apples if:
1. Workers get a 10% pay raise.
2. The price for oranges and pears has fallen.
. A health report is published saying that apples should be part of everyone’s diet.
VII. Explain what will happen to the supply of apples if:
1. Workers on farms growing apples get a 10% pay raise.
2. A new type of tree is introduced which produces 50% more apples per acre of apple orchard.
. The price of pears doubles and stays very high over a number of years.
. The apple crop is ruined by bad weather.
VIII. Here are some of the laws of supply and demand. Read them very carefully and correct the mistakes where necessary:
1. When the price of a commodity falls the quantity that is demanded will also fall.
. When the price of a commodity rises the quantity that is supplied will increase.
. A decreased supply lowers market price.
. An increased demand raises price and brings about an extension of supply.
IX. Fill in the gaps with the words below:
Free, supply, quantity, fall, purchase, produce, supply, price, rise, quantity
Demand is not a particular __1__ such as six bars of chocolate, but rather a full description of the __2__ of chocolate the buyer would __3__ at every __4__ which might be charged. Even when chocolate is __5__ only a limited amount will be wanted. As the price of chocolate __6__ the quantity demanded __7__ other things being equal. Chocolate cannot be __8__ for nothing. Nobody would wish to __9__ if they received a zero price. Thus, __10__ is the quantity of a good sellers wish to sell at each conceivable price.
X. Render the text in English:
Спрос на некий товар –это количество товара, которое покупатели желают приобрести за некоторый период. Спрос зависит от цены данного товара и прочих факторов, включающих цены других товаров, в особенности альтернативных товаров, а также доходы покупателей и их вкусы. Предложение товара –это количество товара, которое продавцы желают продать за некоторый период. Объем предложения зависит от цены товара и других факторов, прежде всего от цен используемых в производстве ресурсов и имеющихся в распоряжении продавцов производственных технологий. Цена на конечный продукт должна быть достаточно высокой, чтобы покрывать расходы и давать прибыль. Если не будет перспективы прибыли, никто не начнет производство. Как видим, цена играет ведущую роль в модели «спрос –предложение». Как правило, при прочих равных условиях объем спроса на товар увеличивается, когда цена товара падает, и уменьшается, когда цена растет.
WANTS AND UTILITIES
The study of economics begins with understanding human wants. By “want” the economist means the endless succession of material “wants” which are displayed by all living things. Everyone needs air, food, and water to support life. If we live in some climates we need clothing and shelter from the weather. Everyone needs a home to call his own; some territory which is his, by right.
Even when we have these basic “needs”, other more advanced “wants” present themselves. We want comfortable homes, entertainment, education, and transport. As the things we want increase in variety and become more and more sophisticated, the economy becomes more intricate too, until thousands of men are cooperating in different countries to produce the raw materials, designs, and specialized machinery which are necessary for a single thing we “want” –such as an aeroplane or a motor vehicle.
Everyone has an individual scale of preferences, a ladder-like arrangements of things in one’s own mind with the most preferred items towards the top of the scale. Some things never climb up the scale higher than the first few rungs, for they are constantly leapfrogged by other unexpected items. Every father of a family can think of things, often quite essential things, which he has been meaning to buy for years, but repeatedly has to reject for other items which the children need if they are to make the progress he wishes them to make.
What is it that decides the position of an item on a consumer’s scale of preferences? The answer is that preferences are based upon the consumers’view of utility of a particular good.
Utility is the ability to satisfy wants. The basic needs of mankind are called wants, the means of satisfying these wants are called utilities. The purpose of an economy is to create utilities which will satisfy mankind’s wants.
Total utility is the total satisfaction we derive from the possession of a commodity. Usually total utility will continue to rise as we acquire more and more of the same goods. This would certainly be true, for example, of a collector’s acquisition of antiques. It might not be quite so true of a smoker’s purchases of cigarettes. There might come a point with many commodities where total utility had reached a maximum and a further supply would be a positive nuisance.
Marginal utility is the utility of one unit of a good or service. In fact we have to value it in imaginary “units of satisfaction”. Take the housewife buying bread. Her usual daily supply is two loaves, and each of these loaves will have great utility but the first loaf more than the second.
Diminishing marginal utility sets in as soon as the first loaf is bought; each extra loaf is valued less and less. Another loaf may have negative utility and be a cause of dissatisfaction. We may say then that diminishing marginal utility sets in very soon after we have purchased a normal supply. How does the housewife choose a balanced supply of goods and services? By comparing in her mind the marginal utilities of a further unit of various goods and services, one with another, and choosing the ones which will maximize her family’s satisfaction.
The production of utilities. Satisfaction can be achieved in two ways: by the enjoyment of goods or the enjoyment of services. Goods are tangible items which either satisfy the basic requirements of human life or make that life fuller and richer. Common examples are foods, clothing, housing, furniture, books, television sets, and motor cars. The actual point of satisfaction occurs when we consume the food, or beverage, wear the clothing, make use of the furniture, and so on, so that the name consumer goods is usually applied to these tangible utilities. There is another class of goods, called producer goods. These are goods which do not yield personal satisfaction to consumers but are part of the capital assets of production. A drilling machine, or an assembly line in a factory, are examples of producer goods.
Services are intangible “utilities”, which satisfy our needs by personal attention. The dentist who extracts a painful tooth; the surgeon who sets a broken leg; the television personality who brightens an otherwise dull evening; or the hairdresser who prepares us for a social occasion are examples of people offering personal service. As with goods, there is a class of services which is not directly personal in this way, but forms part of the productive organization. Such services are commercial services; trade, banking, transport, insurance, and communications are the chief examples.
The whole purpose of production, which makes use of producer goods and commercial services in the course of its activities, is to create utilities by providing an endless flow of consumer goods and personal services. In order to achieve this production of utilities the resources available to mankind must be mobilized. These resources are called the factors of production.
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What does an economist mean by “want”? Is there a difference between “need” and “want”?
. What is a scale of preferences?
. What is the basis of a scale of preferences?
. What is utility?
. What is the purpose of economy according to the concept of utility?
. What are the differences between marginal and total utility?
. How do you choose “your” supply of goods and services?
. What are producer goods?
. What are tangible goods?
. What are the factors of production?
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Utility |
A. goods that satisfy personal need rather than those required for the production of other goods |
|
2. Consumer goods |
B. total satisfaction derived from the possession of a commodity |
|
3. Wants |
C. the ability to satisfy wants |
|
4. Total utility |
D. the utility of one unit of a commodity |
|
5. Marginal utility |
E. the basic needs of people |
III. Translate the words and word combinations:
Потребительская корзина, удовлетворять потребности, средства, поучать, иерархия потребностей, предельная полезность, общая полезность, уменьшающаяся предельная полезность.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. If total utility reaches a maximum, a further supply is a positive nuisance.
. A drilling machine, or an assembly line in a factory are examples of tangible items.
. Total utility rises while marginal utility always falls.
. Consumers base their choice of a supply of goods on the total utility they can obtain.
. Utility is a subjective concept.
V. Render in the text English:
В экономической теории под полезностью понимается удовлетворение, получаемое потребителем от товаров и услуг, которые он покупает. Представление потребителя о полезности того или иного товара определяет его положение на индивидуальной шкале предпочтений. Поскольку ни один потребитель не может себе позволить все, что ему хочется, то он оказывается перед лицом выбора благ, которые он может позволить себе приобрести. Так выстраивается индивидуальная иерархия потребностей.
Совокупная полезность –это полное удовлетворение, которое мы получаем от обладания товаром. Предельная полезность представляет собой прирост совокупной полезности в результате потребления дополнительной единицы данного блага. Как правило, предельная полезность является убывающей, что означает, что предельная полезность тем меньше, чем большим количеством блага потребитель уже обладает.
VI. Give a summary of the text.
A market is where buyers and sellers transact business for the exchange of particular goods and services and where the prices for these goods and services tend toward equality. In order for a market to “clear” or function properly, the quantity of goods and services demanded and supplied must be equal at some given price. At any particular point in time, markets can be in “equilibrium” or “disequilibrium” depending on whether or not aggregate supply equals aggregate demand at the prevailing price. Markets may differ in scope and do not necessarily require buyers and sellers to meet or communicate directly with each other. Business may be transacted through the use of intermediaries as well.
There are two fundamental dimensions of market definition: (i) the product market, where products group together, and (ii) the geographic market, where geographic areas group together. Market definition takes into account both the demand and supply considerations. On the demand side, products must be substitutable from the buyer’s point of view. On the supply side, sellers must be included who produce or could easily switch production to the relevant product or close substitutes. Market definition generally includes actual and potential sellers, that is, firms that can rapidly alter their production processes to supply substitute products if the price so warrants. The rationale for this is that these firms will trend to dampen or curb the ability of firms in the market to raise price above the competitive level.
The location of buyers and sellers will determine whether the geographic market is local, regional, national or international. The exchange of goods and services in the world, or global, market is known as international trade. There are three main benefits to be gained from this type of exchange.
First, international trade makes scarce goods available to nations that need or desire them. When a nation lacks the resources needed to produce goods domestically, it may import them from another country. For example, Saudi Arabia imports automobiles; the United States –bananas; and Japan –oil.
Second, international trade allows a nation to specialize in the production of those goods for which it is particularly suited. This often results in increased output, decreased costs and a higher national standard of living. Natural, human and technical resources help determine which products a nation will specialize in. Saudi Arabia is able to specialize in petroleum because it has the necessary natural resource; Japan is able to specialize in the production of televisions because it has the human resources required to assemble the numerous components by hand; and the United States is able to specialize in the computer industry because it has the technical expertise necessary for design and production.
There are two economic principles that help explain how and when specialization is advantageous. According to the theory of absolute advantage, a nation ought to specialize in the goods that it can produce more cheaply than its competitors or in the goods that no other nation is able to produce. According to the theory of comparative advantage, a nation ought to concentrate on the products that it can produce most efficiently and profitably. For example, a nation might produce both grain and wine cheaply, but it specializes in the one which will be more profitable.
The third benefit of international trade is its political effects: nations that trade together develop common interests which may help them overcome political differences. Economic cooperation has been the foundation for many political alliances, such as the EC (Common Market) founded in 1957.
TASKS
I. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Equilibrium |
A. an individual acting as a link between persons or companies |
|
2. Aggregate supply |
B. prices now current in the market |
|
3. Aggregate demand |
C. a state of balance when all the economic forces present in a situation have an equal influence and there is no tendency to change |
|
|
D. the total amount of goods and services resulting from adding together all the spending power of people in the complete economy of a country |
|
5. Intermediary |
E. the amount of an economic good that will be offered for sale in the market at a certain price or time |
|
6. Substitute |
F. the proportion of the total demand (for a product) that is supplied by a particular manufacturer |
|
7. Market share |
G. a thing that replaces or can be used in place of something |
II. Answer the following questions:
1. What is a market?
. When does a market function properly?
. What are the key points of market definition?
. How do markets differ in scope?
. What benefits can be gained from international trade?
. Why is specialization advantageous?
. What political changes can economic cooperation lead to?
. How can we balance market growth and development with conservation of natural resources and protection of the environment?
III. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. A market is where sellers raise or fix prices and reduce output in order to increase profits.
. A market functions properly if the quantity of goods and services demanded and supplied is equal at some given price.
. When a market is in disequilibrium, aggregate supply equals aggregate demand at the prevailing price.
. Markets are all similar in scope. There are only local markets, where buyers and sellers must meet and communicate directly with each other.
. To define a market, all you need is to identify the number of companies and products available in the market.
. Market definition takes into account supply and demand.
. In defining a market, potential sellers are not considered.
. Specialization brings about a rise in both output and costs.
. According to the theory of comparative advantage, a nation should focus on the goods that it can produce more cheaply than its competitors.
. Economic cooperation is the best way to solve political problems.
IV. Render the following sentences in English:
V. Give a summary of the text.
A monopoly is a situation where there is a single seller in the market. In conventional economic analysis, a monopoly is taken as the polar opposite of perfect competition. By definition, the demand curve facing the monopolist is the industry demand curve, which is downward sloping. Thus, the monopolist has significant power over the price it charges, i.e. is a price setter rather than a price taker.
Comparison of a monopoly and perfect competition* reveals that the monopolist will set a higher price, produce a lower output and earn above normal profits (sometimes referred to as monopoly rents). This suggests that consumers will face a higher price, leading to a loss. In addition, income will be transferred from consumers to the monopoly firm.
The preceding arguments are purely static and constitute only part of the possible harm resulting from monopoly. It is sometimes argued that monopolists, being largely immune from competitive pressures, will not have the appropriate incentives to minimize costs or undertake technological change. Moreover, resources may be wasted in attempts to achieve a monopoly position. However, a counter argument advanced is that a degree of monopoly power is necessary to earn higher profits in order to create incentives for innovation.
Monopolies can only continue to exist if there are barriers to entry. Barriers which sustain monopolies are often associated with legal protection created through patents and monopoly franchises. However, some monopolies are created and sustained through strategic behavior or economies of scale. The latter are natural monopolies which are often characterized by steeply declining long-run average and marginal costs and the size of the market is such that there is room for only one firm to exploit available economies of scale or duplication of facilities would be wasteful.
Monopsony. A monopsony consists of a market with a single buyer. When there are only a few buyers, the market is defined as an oligopsony. In general, when buyers have some influence over the price of their inputs they are said to have monopsony power.
Natural monopoly. A natural monopoly exists in a particular market if a single firm can serve that market at lower cost than any combination of two or more firms. Natural monopoly arises out of the properties of productive technology, often in association with market demand, and not from the activities of governments or rivals. Generally speaking, natural monopolies are characterized by steeply declining long run average and marginal-cost curves such that there is room for only one firm to fully exploit available economies of scale and supply the market.
Oligopoly. An oligopoly is a market characterized by a small number of sellers who realize they are independent in their pricing and output polices. The number of sellers is small enough to give each seller some market power.
An oligopoly is distinguished from perfect competition because each seller in an oligopoly has to take into account their independence; from monopolistic competition because firms have some control over price; and from monopoly because a monopolist has no rivals, in general, the analysis of oligopoly is concerned with the effects of mutual interdependence among firms in pricing and output decisions.
There are several types of oligopoly. When all sellers are of (roughly) equal size, the oligopoly is said to be symmetric. When this is not the case, the oligopoly is asymmetric. One typical asymmetric oligopoly is the dominant firm. An oligopoly industry may produce goods which are homogeneous (undifferentiated) or may produce goods which are heterogeneous (differentiated).
The analysis of oligopoly behavior normally assumes a symmetric oligopoly, often a duopoly. Whether the oligopoly is differentiated or undifferentiated, the critical problem is to determine the way in which the firms act in the face of their realized independence.
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Естественная монополия, средние издержки, предельные издержки (краткосрочного/долгосрочного периода), монопсония, олигопсония, производственная технология, экономия от масштаба, совершенная конкуренция, однородные/неоднородные товары, научно-технический прогресс, дуополия, барьеры входа.
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Barriers to entry |
A. a market with a single buyer who has some influence over the price of his output |
|
2. Franchise |
B. factors which prevent the entry of new firms into an industry |
|
3. Economies of scale |
C. a situation when a single firm can serve a particular market at lower cost than any combination of two or more firms |
|
4. Monopsony |
D. a situation when the average costs per unit of output decrease with an increase in the size of the output produced by a firm |
|
5. Natural monopoly |
E. a market consisting of two sellers |
|
6. Duopoly |
F. a market with a few buyers |
|
7. Oligopsony |
G. privileges |
III. Answer the following questions:
1. What is a monopoly?
. What is the difference between a monopoly and perfect competition?
. Who sets prices in a monopolistic market?
. What are the results of monopolistic behavior in a market?
. Under what conditions does a monopoly continue to exist?
. What are the main types of monopolies?
. What are the distinctive features of a natural monopoly?
IV. Do the following tasks:
1. Describe a monopoly from the standpoint of conventional economic analysis.
. Compare a monopolistic market to a normal competitive environment.
. List all the arguments against monopolies and counter arguments in favor of monopolies.
. Describe the conditions under which monopolies continue to exist.
. List all kinds of monopolies and describe in what way they differ from each other.
V. Render the text in English:
Монополия характеризуется наличием одного-единственного продавца конкретного товара на рынке. Продавец обладает монопольной властью, если он может повышать цену на свою продукцию путем ограничения своего собственного объема выпуска. Монополистической конкуренции свойственны черты как монополии, так и совершенной конкуренции. Монополистическая конкуренция –это совершенная конкуренция плюс дифференциация продукции. В условиях монополистической конкуренции, как и в условиях совершенной конкуренции, не существует барьеров для входа на рынок новых фирм. Открыть новый ресторан, бензоколонку или аптеку в большинстве крупных городов не составляет труда. Но поскольку барьеры входа отсутствуют, фирмы в монополистически конкурентных отраслях не рассчитывают на получение значительной прибыли в долгосрочном периоде.
MONEY
People practising specialized production must exchange their outputs of goods and services with one another. Until a full money system has been developed, such an exchange is usually carried on by barter. This is the exchange of goods directly for other goods and services. Barter, however, has certain disadvantages. The chief of these are the need for a coincidence of wants, the difficulty of equating values, and the indivisibility of large items.
Money is a solution to the problems of barter, because each commodity or service can be exchanged for money, which can then be used by the new owner to purchase a balanced supply of utilities. Money is any medium of exchange which is generally acceptable.
Types of money.
a) Token coins. These are coins made from metals whose real value is less than the face value of the coin.
b) Paper money. Printed money is more convenient than coins, being lighter to carry and easier to handle in large quantities. One more advantage of paper money is ease in guarding against forgery. The denominations of notes can be arranged to suit price levels in common use.
c) Bank deposits. Amounts placed to the credit of customers’accounts at banks are the same as money. These deposits can then be transferred from one person to another by means of cheques. So cheques are not money, but only orders to pay money.
Any means of payment which people are forced by law to accept in settlement of a debt is legal tender. Money need not be legal tender and in fact bank deposits, which are money, are not legal tender. If legal tender is not generally acceptable, then it will cease to be money. In Germany at the end of the Second World War, marks, which were legal tender, were often not accepted in payment whereas cigarettes often were.
Money functions as a medium of exchange, a measure of value and store of value.
a) Medium of exchange. This is the chief function of money. It overcomes the need for a coincidence of wants, since everyone “wants” money, which represents a claim against any goods or services which will yield satisfaction.
b) Measure of value. The value of goods and services is measured in terms of money. It is then known as price.
c) Store of value. Wealth can be kept in the form of money. The use of money as a store of value only applies when individuals are storing it; a whole nation could not do so.
The value of money, like the value of anything else, is whatever it can be exchanged for. It is, in effect, its purchasing power. A rise in prices means that the value of money has fallen; a fall in prices, that it has risen. The value of money changes inversely with changes in the price level. It is highly desirable that the value of money should remain stable over the years, otherwise its functions cannot be fulfilled properly.
I. Give the English equivalents to:
Совпадение потребностей, законное платежное средство, средство обращения, мера стоимости, средство сбережения, материальные ценности, рост и снижение цены.
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Token money |
A. the form of money in which a person has a right by law to pay a debt |
|
2. Barter |
B. the bank’s liabilities to its customers |
|
3. Legal tender |
C. exchange of goods for goods |
|
4. Medium of exchange |
D. any convenient and commonly acceptable means of payment |
|
5. Value of money |
E. Coins in which the metallic content is less valuable than the face value |
|
6. Bank deposit |
F. the quantity of goods and services that money will buy at a certain time |
III. Fill the gaps with the following words: coins, money, barter, legal tender, notes, value:
1. Until a full money system has been developed, trade is usually carried on by … .
. Money is only a claim against the real goods that have … .
. … is of no use unless wealth is created.
. Bank of England notes are … to any amount in the UK.
. Where devaluation of a currency is possible, foreigners are unwilling to accept the … and … of the country in question.
IV. Answer the following questions:
1. What are the disadvantages of barter?
. What are the main functions of money?
. What is meant by the value of money?
. Why are these functions less effectively performed if money changes in value?
5. What is the correlation between the value of money and prices?
6. What is meant by legal tender?
V. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Barter is the exchange of goods for money.
. Bank deposits and cheques are types of money.
. Price is the value of goods and services measured in terms of money.
. Paper money consists of notes issued by commercial banks.
. One of the advantages of paper money is ease in handling in large quantities.
. Any type of money can be classified as legal tender.
. A rise in prices means that the value of money has also risen.
VI. Render the text in English:
C развитием рыночных отношений параллельно с товаром появляются деньги. Деньги –это особый товар, всеобщий эквивалент. Они могут обмениваться на все другие товары и удовлетворять любые потребности их владельцев. Сущность денег проявляется в их функциях.
VII. Give a summary of the text.
PRICING
Price is one element of the marketing mix. A business must decide how to price its product. In making this decision it needs to consider:
Competition based pricing. One factor which is likely to influence is the price of similar competitive products. To sell a bottle of Tresor, produced by L’Oreal, at ₤50 a bottle when Chanel № 5 is selling at ₤30 a bottle may lose L’Oreal sales. On the other hand, to sell it at ₤10 might not increase sales because consumers might think that Tresor was a lower quality perfume. Any business needs to think carefully about the price charged by rivals. When a perfume house sets a price which is roughly the same as that set by other perfume houses, it has decided to avoid price competition. Instead, it could attempt to get customers through advertising attractive packaging or other marketing means. On the other hand, some businesses deliberately attempt to undercut their competitors’prices. In 1993 and 1994, for instance, The Times newspapers deliberately cut its price from 45p to 30p and then to 20p a copy to raise sales.
Market orientated pricing. Whilst thinking about prices charged by competitors, the world’s perfume manufacturers also use a number of other pricing strategies to raise sales and profits. These strategies are called market oriented pricing strategies because they are based on analyzing the market and its characteristics.
Discounts, special offers and sales. To encourage consumers to buy, the perfume houses often run special offers. The price of a bottle of perfume might be lower if another product is bought at the same time. Discounts might be offered at a particular time of the year. Top perfumes are rarely reduced in a sale because this would affect their high class image. However, many other products, like clothes, are sold at a lower price in sales.
Price discrimination. The perfume houses sell perfumes at different prices in different areas of the world. Selling the same product at different prices to different segments of the market is known as price discrimination. The perfume houses attempt to charge what the market will “bear” in order to earn the highest profit possible in each market. If, for example, consumers in the USA were prepared to pay a higher price for a bottle of Chanel №5 than consumers in the Middle East, then Chanel might charge a higher price in the USA.
Penetration pricing. A new competitor to the perfume market might be tempted to use penetration pricing. This is charging a lower price for a product at the start in order to gain market share. Once a product is established in the market, the business would raise its price. This is suitable for products where price is important in influencing spending decisions and where there is a long term market for the product. The problem with using this strategy with perfumes is that price can be linked to quality in the minds of consumers. Consumers may be happy to buy cheap sample bottles, but a low priced bottle of perfume could be seen as low quality.
Creaming. Creaming (or skimming) is the opposite of penetration pricing. It is setting a high price for a product initially and lowing it later on. It is used, for instance, with hi-tech products. When video machines first came out, they cost thousand of pounds. They were bought by companies and enthusiasts who were prepared to pay a high price for a product. However, to create a mass market for the video machines, the manufacturer had to lower the price. Again, a perfume house is unlikely to want to lower prices when a product reaches the maturity stage of its life cycle because price is often linked to image of quality with perfumes.
Cost based pricing. Perfume manufacturers are in business to make a profit. Charging a price similar to competitors is one way to set prices but might lead to losses. Another way would be to base price on costs of production. A retailer like Superdrug might use cost plus pricing. It could calculate the cost of selling a perfume, add a make-up or profit margin for its profit and this would then be the price of the bottle. The cost is the average cost and is made up of:
~ the variable cost –mainly the cost of buying the bottle from the distributor;
~ the fixed cost –such as wages of staff, rent, heating and lighting.
When the price covers both the average fixed and variable costs of the product, the business is said to be full-cost pricing. Sometimes, another competing retailer might run a special offer on a product line. Superdrug might respond by cutting its prices too, below the full-cost price. So long as the new price more than covers the variable cost, it will at least make some contribution towards paying the fixed costs of the business. This contribution might be far more than if Superdrug didn’t cut its price and sales of the product fell dramatically. In 1993, Superdrug was, in fact, in dispute with the major perfume manufacturers. They refused to sell to Superdrug unless Superdrug charged the high prices found in retailers like Harrods. The manufacturers didn’t want perfume to be sold on price. Superdrug said that its prices were based on its costs. If it had lower costs than Harrods, why should it not be allowed to sell at a lower price? The manufacturers won and have forced Superdrug to sell at higher prices than it would like to. This shows that there are many different ways to fix a price for a product.
TASKS
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What is meant by competitive pricing?
. Why do shops have sales?
. Why might penetration pricing be a good price strategy to use when launching a new brand of yogurts?
. Mobile phone networks have used price creaming strategies when setting prices. Explain what this means.
. What is meant by cost based pricing?
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Competition based pricing |
A. setting an initial low price for a new product so that it is attractive to customers. The price is likely to be raised later as the product gains more market share |
|
2. Cost plus pricing |
B. setting a price based on an analysis of the market |
|
3. Creaming or skimming |
C. fixing a price by adding a percentage profit margin to the cost of production of the good or service |
|
4. Market orientated pricing |
D. the extra which is added to the cost of a product to cover the profit to be made |
|
5. Mark-up or profit margin |
E. setting a price based on the charged by competitors for similar products |
|
6. Penetration pricing |
F. the percentage added to the cost of production which equals the profit on the product |
|
7. Price discrimination |
J. selling product at a high price, sacrificing high sales in order to earn high profits |
|
8. Profit margin |
I. setting a different price for the same product in different segments of the market |
III. Give synonyms to the words and expressions from the text:
Effect, keep away from, method, pleasant-looking, example/case, planning of an action, special features, region, part, obtain/get, at the beginning, let.
IV. Render the text in English:
Установить цену нового товара трудно, так как у менеджеров мало данных для оценки потребительского спроса. Чем более новаторский характер имеет товар, тем сложнее оценить реакцию потребителей до появления товара на рынке. При установлении цен на новые товары используют два вида стратегий: «снятие сливок» и «проникновение на рынок».
При стратегии «снятия сливок» устанавливают высокую цену, предусматривая ее возможное снижение по мере появления на рынке конкурентов. Такая стратегия наиболее эффективна, если спрос на товар неэластичен, а компания пользуется патентной защитой.
В рамках стратегии «проникновения на рынок» компания устанавливает низкую цену на новый товар, чтобы предотвратить приход на рынок конкурирующих товаров. Это имеет смысл, если товар не защищен патентом, а спрос на него эластичен. Такой стратегии придерживалась компания «Bausch&Lomb», выйдя на рынок с мягкими контактными линзами в начале 70-х годов. Она проводила агрессивную ценовую политику, устанавливая в отрасли цены на 50% ниже обычных. Когда ее главный конкурент компания «Cooper-Vision» также понизила цены на свои линзы, «Bausch&Lomb» в ответ еще больше снизила цены –до 10-15 долларов.
V. Give a summary of the text.
THE PROBLEM OF INFLATION
Of the large number of definitions of inflation to be brought forward by economists, the simplest and most widely understood is that inflation is a period of rising prices. Further consideration though, reveals that in the United Kingdom some prices have reduced since the Second World War, the examples are color television sets, calculators, etc. Does this mean that there is no inflation? The answer, obviously, is ’’no’’; the measurement of inflation depends upon the general price level and it is perfectly possible for the general price level to rise while specific prices fall.
The general price level must therefore be a form of average. The normal method of calculation is by the use of price index. The best known price index, and the one usually chosen to indicate the level of inflation, is the Index of Retail Prices.
Further points arising from the index are as follows:
The inflation rate can be calculated by dividing the change in the index of retail prices over the last year by the starting index, and multiplying the result by 100. If we analyze the following table, we can make any calculations.
General Index of Retail Prices in the United Kingdom
|
Year |
Jan. |
Feb. |
Mar. |
Apr. |
May |
June |
|
1977 |
.4 |
.1 |
.8 |
.3 |
.7 |
.8 |
|
1978 |
.5 |
.6 |
.8 |
.6 |
.7 |
.2 |
|
1979 |
.2 |
.9 |
.6 |
.2 |
.9 |
|
|
Year |
July |
Aug. |
Sept. |
Oct. |
Nov. |
Dec. |
|
1977 |
.8 |
.7 |
.7 |
.5 |
.4 |
.4 |
|
1978 |
.1 |
.4 |
.2 |
.1 |
.5 |
.2 |
|
1979 |
The calculation for May 1979 is: Inflation Rate =
Until the middle 1960s the rate of inflation was relatively low: 2-3 per cent per annum. So-called creeping inflation took place. Economists found no reason for alarm in this. In fact, after the period of depression between the wars, when for a time prices fell, some commentators were enthusiastic over rising prices. It became generally accepted in economic literature that a period of gradually rising prices was a good thing since it made businessmen optimistic about their chances of profit making. Inflation was welcomed as a sign of growth and prosperity, and no sense of danger prevailed since it was gradual. In more recent years an annual rate of 10 per cent has looked desirable but it highlights an obvious danger: when is gradual inflation no longer gradual? Most people would agree that 25 per cent per annum is too high a rate to be tolerable. But how much could be desirable? Accept inflation as a small friend and it can easily become a large and difficult enemy to deal with. The task is made more difficult by widespread disagreement over the causes of inflation.
Economists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were convinced that a close link existed between the amount of money circulating within an economy and the level of its prices. Increases in the quantity of money were likely to lead to increases in prices. It was expressed in the formal way by the American economist Irving Fisher, using what became known as the Fisher Equation. The modern theorists are still maintaining that the quantity of money has a direct influence upon prices. However, one of the major problems is the uncertainty surrounding the time period which elapses between an increase in money and an increase in prices. Six months to a year and a half is not accurate enough.
During the years when monetarism was out of fashion, changes in the level of aggregate demand were used to explain why inflation occurred. Called demand inflation it takes place when supply cannot respond (i.e. when most of all resources are already employed) and leads to a rise in prices instead of to extra output. Cost inflation assumes that the collective upwards “push” of costs is sufficient to raise the general level of prices even though there has been no noticeable increase in the level of aggregate demand. In order to grasp the idea of cost inflation it is necessary to distinguish between costs in total and costs per unit of output. For example, wage rates –the rates paid to each employee –can rise and yet the wage element in each unit of output can still fall, provided that output per man rises. In such a situation any extra payments are provided for by extra sales. Then inflation is not fueled, since more output is forthcoming and costs per unit should not rise. However, in markets for labor resources the granting of one group often leads to demands that such deals be extended to other groups even though no extra productivity is forthcoming. And that is a source of cost inflation. Yet another explanation for inflation, bottleneck inflation, is a close relative of both demand and cost inflation. Bottleneck inflation assumes rising costs and rising prices long before all resources are fully employed. The basis for this assumption is that specific shortages occur in some areas –bottleneck areas –of the economy where demand is unusually heavy.
The effects of inflation can be classified at three levels: international, insular and personal. Let us examine each in turn.
By definition, trading nations function within an international community. In the international field, inflation rates have to be identical between all trading partners if trading flows are to remain undisturbed. In a world where most governments are making efforts to reduce their domestic rates of inflation, the rate of inflation in a country has come to have particular international significance. The community which lives by trading in finance regards its government’s record with regard to inflation rate as an indication of its ability to control the domestic economy. When inflation rates exceed the tolerances allowed for by a government, selling of that country’s currency often takes place. The currency consequently depreciates. The effect of this is to make inflation even worse, especially if the country concerned is a major importer of raw materials and semi-finished goods. Inflation gets worse because, when a currency floats downwards or is devalued, import prices rise. When disparate rates of inflation exist between nations, cooperation in the monetary field becomes extremely difficult.
Consumers soon become accustomed to inflation. The habits of saving for consumption are soon forgotten. As far as consumers are concerned the immediate purchase of goods, especially consumer durables, is the rational course –they have developed inflationary expectations. This means that they expect the present inflation to continue, and perhaps, even to get worse. In such a situation the obvious line of action is to buy now before the price rises. Of course, that only fires inflation. The other aspect is that when inflation persists it becomes increasingly difficult for businessmen and investors to calculate real rates of return on capital expenditures.
Inflation influences the behavior of individuals within an economy. Those who depend upon fixed sources of income find that the real value of their income flow is diminished. But there are others who can take advantage of inflation. In times of inflation fixed debt tends to diminish in significance. Hence those who have mortgages find that their incomes rise but the repayments do not and the real cost of borrowing diminishes. Vast numbers thus have at least some vested interest in continued inflation. Yet another way in which inflation affects the behavior of individuals is that it encourages them to find inflation-proof outlets for accumulated funds. Those commodities in fixed, or almost fixed, supply tend to increase in price ahead of the general rate. Such “hedges against inflation” enable a person to escape the worst rigors of an unfavorable economic climate.
The above gives the impression that causes of inflation are simple to understand and easy to regulate. This is far from the truth. In practice many governments seem powerless to reduce inflation to manageable rates. This is probably because real-life inflations are caused by a variety of factors which almost by chance coincide.
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What is inflation?
. How are prices increases measured?
. Have rising prices always been regarded as a threat to the stability of an economy?
. Why is inflation now a disadvantage?
. What might be the consequences of inflation?
. Are there no explanations for inflation?
. Is inflation inevitable?
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Inflation |
A. the kind of inflation that is caused by rising costs of labour and materials, not by increased demand |
|
2. Inflationary gap |
B. the lowering of the quality of products in general in order to prevent, and so to hide, an increase in price |
|
3. Creeping inflation |
C. a rise in the general level of prices |
|
4. Demand inflation |
D. a slow rise in the level of prices of below 2 or 3 per cent per year |
|
5. Cost inflation |
E. inflation that would be much greater if the government were to remove controls on prices and wages |
|
F. that part of government spending which is not covered by taxes or borrowing from the public, but is met by issuing new paper money |
|
|
G. an extreme form of inflation, when the money supply is being increased very rapidly, resulting in an increase of over 20% of the price level annually |
|
|
H. the kind of inflation caused by an excess of demand over supply resulting in a decrease in the value of money |
|
|
I. a state of inflation that gets worse and worse, because higher prices result in demands for higher wages; and higher wages increase costs and so cause higher prices |
III. Explain the following terms:
1. the level of inflation
2. the output per man
3. consumer durables
. the government’s record
. inflationary expectations
. inflation-proof outlets
. hedges against inflation
IV. Render the text in English:
Одним из типов инфляции является сдерживаемая инфляция. Она связана с ситуацией, когда спрос превышает предложение. Но влияние на цены путем использования таких инструментов, как контроль за ценами и нормирование (rationing), минимально. Необходимо отметить, что контроль за ценами не связан с причинами инфляции. Это просто попытка сгладить (подавить) симптомы. Избыточный спросвсе равно существует, и он будет проявляться в виде очередей, списков и, почти неизбежно, в черном рынке.
V. Give a summary of the text.
BANKING
Banking centers around money and financial services. Virtually any activity involving money or advice about financial matters is undertaken by all the commercial banks. The immediate service offered by the bank is the receipt for deposit of coins, notes and cheques and the cashing of cheques, through current accounts. Coins and notes in circulation have the status of “legal tender” that is to say they must be taken in payment of a debt although the extent to which this applies in the case of coins is deliberately restricted for the sake of convenience.
The most common means of payment, particularly for significant sums of money, is a cheque since it is both safer and more convenient than using cash. However, it is not legal tender and creditors can refuse to accept it if they wish. Normally both national cheques and traveler’s cheques are readily negotiable if the bearer has some means of proving his identity and the creditor can be sure that the cheque will be “honored”. To assist the use of cheques banks now provide their customers with bankers cards which, when used in association with a cheque, will guarantee it up to a stated maximum. If a customer wishes to make payments of large amounts of money by cheque and is not known to the creditor, then he may obtain a “certified cheque” from his bank. Such a cheque is signed by the bank and therefore payment is guaranteed.
Those trading overseas, or in conditions where there may be a significant time lapse between sending out goods and their receipt by the customer, may use a Bill of Exchange as a means of payment. This is really a post-dated cheque which assures the creditor payment but also gives the buyer opportunity to inspect the goods before the transaction is completed. Those whose credit standing is unknown may have to get the Bill “accepted” before a creditor will take it. Such a process guarantees payment and most work of this kind is undertaken by the merchant banks. Because Bills are post dated creditors may have to wait some time for their money. They can overcome this problem by endorsing the Bill and then either discounting it with a Discount House or a bank or passing it on to another trader in settlement of a debt of their own. By the time it comes to maturity a Bill may have passed through several hands and on each occasion it must be endorsed. The commercial banks participate in this activity in two ways: in part by lending money to the discount houses and in part by discounting bills for their own customers.
A major sector of any modern monetary system is the central banking system, which is important to the functioning of the private economy and the fiscal operations of the national government. Central banking is an activity separate from ordinary commercial banking, because a central bank usually has few transactions with private customers, dealing primarily with commercial bank and with the national government. The roots of the central banking system go back more than two centuries. Nevertheless, central banks as we know them today are relatively recent development. Like electric power and the automobile, central banks are pretty much the products of the twentieth century. For example, at the turn of this century no central bank existed in any country of Western Hemisphere. The central banking system for the United States (Federal Reserve System) was created late in 1913, and the Bank of Canada appeared in 1934.
The characteristics of the Modern Central Bank. It is difficult to give a brief definition of a central bank that is both comprehensive and accurate. The nature of a central bank depends largely on its function, which vary according to time and setting. Essentially, a modern central bank performs at least three functions: managing the nation’s monetary system, serving as a bankers’bank, and acting as fiscal agent for the national government.
Monetary control. The most important characteristic of the modern central bank is its control over the monetary system for facilitating the achievement of national economic goals. In exerting this control, the central bank regulates the supply, cost, and availability of money and credit. Monetary control is enhanced by the central bank’s monopoly on the banknote issue and its ability to create and destroy monetary reserves by its lending and “investing” activities. Since monetary control is a prerogative of the sovereign government, the central bank is a public service organization that emphasizes the national interest rather than its own profit or welfare.
Bankers bank. Being a bankers’bank implies that the central bank provides services to the commercial banking system similar to those that the commercial banking system performs for individuals and business firms. Commonplace services that nevertheless promote the smooth operation of the monetary and banking systems include, for example, the clearing and collecting of checks, distributing coin and paper currency to commercial banks, and providing some degree of supervision and regulation over the activities of commercial banks.
Fiscal agency function. In its role as a fiscal agent, the central bank serves as a banker for the national government. Here the central bank receives, holds, transfers, and disburses funds of the central government.
Central and commercial banking functions involve widely differing objectives and methods, and therefore these functions are kept separate. The central bank orients its policy primarily toward the attainment of national economic objectives, whereas the commercial banking system is essentially profit-motivated.
I. Answer the following questions:
1. Why is the central banking system a major sector of any monetary system?
2. How long is the history of modern central banking?
. What are the functions of a central bank?
. What does the nature of a central bank depend on?
. What are the main distinctions between central and commercial banking?
II. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. The object of central banks in the monetary field is to support the Government’s activities in other fields.
. Every bank issues its own notes.
. Private individuals and businesses often deal with central banks.
. Central bank is a bank officially appointed by law to work closely with the Government.
. Commercial banks perform the duties of issuing and managing the country’s currency.
. The commercial banking system is profit motivated.
III. Render the text in English:
Федеральная резервная система была создана в 1913 г. на основании закона, принятого Конгрессом. Наиболее важным органом в Fed является совет управляющих, находящийся в Вашингтоне, федеральный округ Колумбия. Совет состоит из семи членов, каждый из которых назначается на 14-летний срок президентом США. Совет возглавляется председателем, назначаемым из состава управляющих на 4-летний срок.
Fed –это банк банков. Коммерческие банки держат свои депозиты в Fed и осуществляют платежи друг другу через перевод средств с этих депозитов. Fed устанавливает резервные требования для всех банков.
Федеральная резервная система состоит из 12 округов, каждый из которых имеет свой резервный банк. Предоставляя совету материалы по анализу экономической ситуации в каждом из округов, банки тем самым держат совет в курсе событий, происходящих в стране.
IV. Fill in the blanks with proper words or word combinations:
board of directors maximizing profit
public and private influences top executive officers
Federal Reserve bank stockholders
public welfare
The United States is divided into 12 Federal Reserve Districts, each containing a … . A total of 25 branches serve particular areas within the various districts. Blending … , the corporate organization of the Federal Reserve banks resembles that of commercial banks. Each Reserve bank is headed by a … who select the … . Basic differences as compared with commercial banks include the absence of powers held by … in private corporations and orientation toward enhancing … rather than … .
V. Give a summary of the text.
LOANS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
In the process of social production there can be saved up stocks of money, that are kept in the Treasury, or funds, that can be accumulated by large insurance companies, banks, pension funds as well as by private savers. These stocks could be used to make different loans. Sometimes the government lends this money to various programs in education, medicine, culture, construction, to support small business, etc., the interest rate to be paid being very low. We can instance a special program called Loan Guarantee Scheme aiming at supporting small business in the United Kingdom. At 3% interest the government guarantees 70% of the money lent by the bank to a businessman. More often the funds are used to earn extra profit. The interest rate is determined as the equilibrium price in the loan market, that is that part of the capital market which is concerned with the provision of medium-term and long-term loans to governments, commercial houses and industrial companies, or in the money market for very short-term loans.
Thus, a loan is money lent on condition that interest will be paid at an agreed rate and that the amount lent will be repaid at an agreed time or in an agreed manner. There exist many types of loans in UK economy and each of them has its specific features.
Such loans as balloon and bullet are repaid irregularly. The balloon loan is a loan where the repayments are unevenly distributed throughout the life of the loan. The borrowers usually make larger repayments as soon as they have got a possibility to return money; the larger repayments are known as the “balloons”. When the borrower pays only interest during the life of the loan and then repays all the principal as the final repayment, the loan is called a bullet loan.
There exist loans on mortgage of property. You will pay only interest during the period of the flat loan, the amount borrowed being repaid at the end of the period in cash or by arranging another loan. The table loan is repaid by regular monthly installments, and each consists partly of interest and partly of some of the amount borrowed. Thus at the end of the period of the loan all the interest and the whole of the amount borrowed will have been paid off. The name “table” relates to the table issued by building societies stating the amount of the monthly payments at various rates of interest and for various periods of loan. A building society can make the interest-only-loan to a retired person who pays only interest, leaving the principal to be repaid when the owner sells the house or when he dies.
A bank can lend money to a private person (personal loan) for the purpose of personal expenditure, such as payment of household bills or for buying consumption goods such as a motor car, boat, furniture, etc. Such loans are usually repayable by installments in less than two years and are often made without security; the rate is therefore high.
The hard and the soft loan is made by one country to another on condition that the borrower repays it in the lender’s currency (the hard loan) or the borrower’s currency (the soft loan).
There exist loan or state clubs and societies. A loan club is often a private club whose members, usually low-paid workers in a factory or office, pay regular amounts into a fund from which short-term interest-bearing loans are made to members who request them during the year. Fines are charged for late repayment, and interest is paid to members who deposit money with the club. On a certain date each year, usually just before Christmas, the entire fund is shared out among the members.
These are only a few examples of loans made in the United Kingdom.
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What stocks of money can be used to make loans?
. What conditions should be taken into account to make loans?
. When is the interest rate very high and when is it very low?
. When do you pay only interest during the life of the loan?
. What kinds of loans are made on mortgage of property?
. Do employees earning low wages have any opportunity to borrow money?
7. Is it beneficial for a lender to make personal loans?
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Loan |
A. the department responsible for the finances, the management of the monetary system, etc. |
|
2. Interest |
B. the power of a business to earn profits |
|
3. Mortgage |
C. a state of balance when the total demand is satisfied by the total supply |
|
4. Funds |
D. a series of regular payments made under agreement in order to settle a debt |
|
5. Installment |
E. an amount of money borrowed by an individual or a company |
|
6. Treasury |
F. the thing given as a security |
|
7. Equilibrium |
G. a charge paid to a person or organization that has lent you money |
|
H. amounts of money |
III. Fill in each blank with one word from the box to illustrate typical collocations:
condition repayments money rates
interest security society business loan
|
1. to support |
2. to pay |
|
to run______ |
to sell_____ |
|
small |
compound |
|
3. to lend |
4. to agree on |
|
to borrow_____ |
to accept______ |
|
to deposit |
to meet |
|
5. to distribute |
6. to arrange |
|
uneven_______ |
to make________ |
|
monthly |
personal |
|
7. various |
|
|
agreed________ |
|
|
interest |
IV. Render the text in English:
Как известно, деньги, данные взаймы на условиях, что они будут возвращены или частями, или единовременно и в согласованные сроки, являются займом. Обычно заемщик платит кредитору согласованную процентную ставку, за исключением случаев беспроцентного займа. Существует теория ссудных фондов (loanable-funds theory), согласно которой процентные ставки должны подниматься или падать до тех пор, пока объем денег, который заемщики желают получить в кредит, не совпадет точно с объемами фондов, которые кредиторы хотят в этот период предложить взаймы.
V. Give a summary of the text.
Businesses need information if they are to make good decisions. One way of gaining that information is by carrying out market research. There are various types of market research. Businesses need to decide which market research methods are mostly likely to give them the information they need.
Many businesses are product orientated. This means that they design and make a product, and then try to convince consumers to buy it. An example might be a drug company, like Glaxo, developing a product to help consumers with an illness and then advertising it.
Businesses can also be market orientаted. This is where they try to find out what consumers want before making the final product. In 1993 Pepsi Cola launched Pepsi Max, a sugar free cola drink designed to taste like the original. Before the product was sold, Pepsi tried to find out the type of product consumers wanted. Finding out about what consumers want and need, and what makes them buy, is called market research.
Businesses which are mainly product orientated risk spending a large amount of resources launching a product which proves to be a failure. Researching the market helps reduce this risk. It should focus research and design effort onto products which have a chance of success in the market place. When the product is launched, a carefully researched product stands less chance of failing.
The stages of market research are:
– what is the question which the business wants to find an answer to?
– what information is needed to answer this question?
– what method of market research will be used?
– collect the data;
– analyze the data, draw conclusions and make recommendations.
Market research attempts to find the answers to questions a business might have about its market. For example, in 1991 the marketing department of Pepsi-Cola started with this question: would launching a new product increase total sales of its products? The market researcher must then decide what information might help answer this question. Pepsi-Cola wanted information about the existing pattern of sales in the market and how the market had changed. It hoped to be able to identify a segment of the market which it could sell to. Pepsi also wanted consumers to tell it about the sort of new product they would like to buy. The market researcher then decided how best to collect this information. There are two ways of doing this: desk research and field research. Pepsi-Cola used both. The information is then collected and analyzed. Finally, the business has to make a decision about what to do in the light of the information formed. Pepsi-Cola decided to launch a new product, Pepsi Max.
Desk research involves the use of secondary data. This is information which is already available, both within and outside the business.
Information within the business. Businesses collect information routinely. Invoices, for instance, will tell them how much they sell and who they are selling to. Accounts will give information about the value of sales and costs of production. Pepsi knew, for instance, that sales of ordinary Pepsi were far higher than sales of Diet Pepsi.
Information from outside the business. Businesses can also collect information which is available from sources outside the business. Some of these sources are:
– government –published statistics, such as consumer spending figures; reports such as Monopolies and Mergers Commission Reports;
– the media –reports in newspapers, magazines, on radio and on television;
– trade associations;
– research organizations –reports prepared by specialist market research organizations such as Mintel or Mori; articles published in academic journals.
Pepsi was able to use market research reports about the soft drink market. The results showed that both in the USA and outside North America Diet Pepsi and Regular Pepsi sales were less compared to its main rival, Coca Cola. Pepsi used this information to ask a market research question: how could Pepsi be changed so that sales increased?
Field research involves the collection of primary data –information which no one has yet collected. It is collected specially for the particularly piece of research. Primary data is collected through direct investigation, usually in one of three ways –observation, survey and experiment.
Observation. Looking at and recording what people do and how they behave can be important. For instance, a supermarket may find that sales in one aisle in the store are very poor. By observing people, it would be possible to see whether, for instance, the problem was that people were not going down the aisle at all, or whether there was reasonable traffic down the aisle but customers weren’t buying. However, observation can’t tell the supermarket anything about why shoppers are behaving in this way.
Survey. A survey usually involves asking question of respondents –people or organizations reply to the questions asked. Pepsi surveyed consumers outside the USA about Diet Pepsi. What it found was that Diet Pepsi had two problems. Firstly, drinking Diet Pepsi left many consumers with a slightly bitter after-taste which was caused by the use of artificial sweeteners. Secondly, many consumers, particularly in Latin American countries, had a negative image of diet products. They saw them as effeminate or linked them with people who had problems such as diabetes or being overweight.
There are different ways of conducting surveys. A postal survey, where questionnaires are sent through the post, or a newspaper survey, which readers are invited to fill in and return, are cheap. Telephone surveys, personal interviews and consumers’panels are more expensive because an interviewer has to be employed to interview customers. However, only a fraction of customers sent a postal survey will respond. A much larger proportion of those approached will take part in telephone and personal interviews. The interviewer can also help the respondents understand what questions mean and how they should be answered.
If the interview is in a person’s home, products, packaging, etc. can also be shown so that reaction can be recorded. A consumer panel, where a group of people meet together, allows researchers to see how people react in a group situation to a product or idea.
Surveys can only be useful for market research purposes if the questions asked are appropriate. For instance, the name of Pepsi’s new product, Max, came from asking consumer panels in a number of countries to choose the best name out of 13 suggested (a closed question because there is a definite answer). Pepsi would have learnt less if they had simply asked the panels to invent a name (an open question because there are so many possible answers). This is because it is unlikely that two panels would have come up with the same name. Pepsi would not then have known which was the most popular.
Sampling. A survey cannot ask every customer for his opinion. Only a fraction or sample of customers can be surveyed. To be useful, the sample chosen must be representative of all consumers (the population).
In a random sample, every potential respondent has an equal chance of being chosen. Random numbers can be used to do this or it can be done by “picking people out of a hat”. A small random sample, however, may not be representative. This means a large sample to be taken, which is costly and takes time. To reduce the length of time, a systematic sample can be used. This is where every 100th or 1000th person on a list like a telephone directory or the electoral register is chosen. In a quota sample, the sample is broken down (or stratified). For instance, Pepsi might know that one out of ten people who bought diet colas were aged 0-14, seven out of ten 15-24 and the rest were over 25 years old. So out of a sample of 100, Pepsi would ask 70 people (7 out of 10) aged 15-24 to complete a survey. One problem with a quota sample is that any people who fit the description can be asked to complete the survey. So Pepsi, wanting to find seventy people aged 15-24 to complete a survey, could ask the first seventy 15-24 year olds who came out of a McDonalds in London. This may not be very representative of all 15-24 year olds. A stratified random sample may get round this problem. It is a quota sample where all the representatives, the people being interviewed, must be chosen at random. For the sample to be random, Pepsi would have to find some way of selecting 70 young people through pure chance.
Experiment. Market researchers can use experimental techniques. To launch a new product is often very costly. Instead, products could be tested on groups of consumers to see whether they are acceptable and likely to sell well. For instance, Pepsi tried out its new formula diet Pepsi Max with consumer panels. They gave a favorable response. If they hadn’t, Pepsi would have gone back and produced another formula. The next stage was to test market Max in two countries, Italy and the UK. These two countries were chosen because British and Italian consumers have different tastes. If the product was a success in both countries, then it was likely that it would be successful throughout the world.
Decisions. The purpose of market research is to help a business come to a decision. Pepsi thought that there was a potentially large market for a new diet coke by looking at market sales figures. It found out what consumers didn’t like about its existing product and designed a new product. Consumer trials showed that the new product was well liked. Finally, Pepsi decided to launch Pepsi Max in some countries.
TASKS
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What is the difference between a market orientated and product orientated business?
. What is the purpose of market research?
. What are the stages of market research?
. What sources of information are available to someone undertaking desk research?
5. What are field research and desk research?
6. A shopping center wants to find out how many shoppers visit the center. How could it gather this information?
. What differences are there between a postal survey and personal interviews in surveys?
. A business wants to take a random sample of people in the Perm area. How could it do so?
9. A chocolate manufacturer wants to find out if a new bar of chocolate is going to sell well. How could it find this out without having to go to the expense of launching the product nationally?
II. Match the terms with the definitions:
|
1. Research involving asking questions of people or organizations. |
A. desk research |
|
2. Information which already exists, such as accounts and sales records, government statistics, newspaper articles or reports from advertising agencies. |
B. field research |
|
3. Small group out of a total population which is elected to take part in a survey. |
C. survey |
|
4. Finding out information from secondary data. |
D. secondary data |
|
5. The process of collecting primary data. |
E. Sample |
|
6. A person who or an organization which answers questions in a survey. |
F. market oriented business |
|
7. A business which develops products which have been researched and designed to meet the needs of consumers. |
G. questionnaire |
|
8. A list of questions to be answered by respondents, designed to give information about consumers’tastes. |
H. market research |
|
9. Business which develops products with little or no market research and which it hopes will prove successful in the market. |
I. respondent |
|
10. The process of gaining information about customers, competitors and market trends through collecting primary and secondary data. |
J. product oriented business |
III. Fill in the gaps with the following words: characteristics, acceptance, market segment, analysis, carry out, techniques, products, surveys, observation, research, panels, questionnaires, desk:
Market research is the systematic and objective classification, collection, _______ and reporting of information about a particular marketing problem. Market research uses a variety of ______ such as in-depth interviews and group _____ which can be used primarily for motivational _____; in addition, field studies can be undertaken using ______ and interviews, and _____ research of records and data, these being used primarily for marketing intelligence. Finally, techniques such as consumer _____, market experiments and _____ may be used to gain information about existing ____. Businesses _____ market research to enable them to identify market tends; to find out about market _____; to forecast market potential; to analyze market share; to find a _____ ______; to test consumer _____ of new and existing products.
IV. Render the text in English:
Практически любой компании требуются детальные и точные знания о своих потенциальных клиентах и характере их потребностей и запросов. Сбор, обработка и объяснение этой информации –изучение рынка –стало настоящей индустрией, где работает множество специализированных фирм, использующих новейшие научные методики и информационные технологии. Для мелких фирм такие агентства слишком дороги, и они проводят свое собственное изучение рынка (когда и где им это необходимо), посылая вопросники клиентам. Более крупные фирмы часто поручают провести изучение рынка специалистам. В этом случае применяются различные методы:
VI. Give a summary of the text.
The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.
or?
A business function (and a function of non-business enterprises) that often includes elements of sales, advertising, product development, research, pricing and other activities… i.e., organizational tasks.
or?
Any activity which supports the primary purpose of any organization –to gain and maintain a satisfactory customer base, or more broadly, to gain and maintain the support of important stakeholder groups.
or?
A force within the organization that encourages socially and ethically responsible behavior in the market place.
or?
A management orientation that suggests the objective of an enterprise is to identify and satisfy customer values better than competitors can or will do. This characterization of marketing implies that all organizations compete for markets (customers) and/or resources and that a major objective is to favorably differentiate your organization from that of your competitors.
There is little universal agreement on the best or right definition of marketing, although academics, particularly economists favor the first one, as a process. Concepts of management and organization evolve and change over time, and have more or less value depending upon a particular organizations circumstances. This is also true of marketing. From simple exchange processes that served the needs of ancient civilizations to the enormously complex processes of today, the foundation of exchange is creating or adding value for the buyer. And what is of value to a buyer is very often far from clear. There are a few rules which can help us identify marketing values, and to compete for customers more effectively.
Values are derived and influenced by what buyers think they know about the economy, technology, competitive offerings, and experience if any, with our firm as a supplier.
Buyers learn from experience and their values change. Think about your first home purchase, airline flight or automobile, and what was important to you then and what is important to you now as a buyer.
The process, functions, activities and forces of marketing provide a business with an enormous (and untapped) array of weapons, tools and techniques that are potential sources of competitor advantage.
In his book Marketing to Win (Harper&Row, 1999), Frank K. Sonnenherg, national director of marketing in Ernst&Young’s management-consulting group, writes about dramatic developments in the world marketplace that predicate deep changes in the way we manage and market our goods and services. “The bottom line”, he challenges, “is if you don’t change now, you may as well start filling your scrap-book with memories of today. It is unlikely you will have much to show for tomorrow”.
Two companies that excel in their marketing stances are Microsoft Corp. and Alcoa. Both of them recognized and mastered a leading-edge marketing mentality years ago, which propelled them into the world-class arena and to the top of their respective industries.
In a truly world-class organization, marketing is a conduit through which superior processes turn out innovative products to a worldwide audience. That channel operates in two directions. Initially, it transports valuable information about market needs and deficiencies into the company, where it is translated into superior products and service. These, in turn, are released into the marketplace.
The key to surviving the politically and geographically fluid markets of tomorrow is to understand that the only universal is change. Companies must be astute enough to realize that there is no one “right way”, and to be agile enough to respond responsibly and effectively to changing dynamics.
What links companies such as Microsoft and Alcoa, jettisoning them into the world-class elite, is their continuing tradition of exploring frontiers. Both are mavericks not content to sit complacently atop their respective kingdoms, but are driven, as overachievers, to push past the boundary of what we know, of what sells now, and of what is safe.
On the face of it, Microsoft and Alcoa appear to have little, if anything, in common. The former is an upstart pioneer and top performer in the young world of high tech. And the latter is as familiar as an old friend in a mature, heavy-manufacturing industry whose byproducts have been a part of American life for as long as most of us can remember.
Yet each is a dynamic industry leader and innovator, wholly responsible for nudging at the boundaries that define their businesses. It is this unique ability to “grow” the marketplace that makes these companies world-class marketing entities worthy of a closer look.
“To get results in the marketplace, your focus must be on positioning your firm and differentiating your services from the competition”.
TASKS
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What basic issues does marketing incorporate?
. What propelled Microsoft and Alcoa into the world-class arena and to the top of their industries?
. How does marketing work in a truly world-class organizations?
. What are the two primary directions marketing operates in?
. What is the key to surviving the politically and geographically fluid markets of tomorrow?
. Why do companies such as Microsoft and Alcoa have much in common?
. How would you define marketing? Why?
. Why do you think marketing is important to a company’s growth?
. What is meant by “both are mavericks”?
II. Paraphrase the following statements:
1. Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.
. Marketing is a business function that often includes elements of sales, advertising, product development, research, pricing and other activities.
. Marketing is any activity which supports the primary purpose of any organization.
. Marketing is a force within the organization that encourages behavior in the market place.
. Marketing is a management orientation that suggests the objective of an enterprise.
III. Render the text in English:
Концепции руководства и организации изменяются со временем в зависимости от конкретных обстоятельств. Это также верно и для маркетинга. Развиваясь от простых операций обмена, служащих потребностям древних цивилизаций, до необычайно сложных процессов сегодня, основа обмена состоит в создании или прибавлении для покупателя. А что составляет ценность для покупателя, зачастую остается далеким от ясности. Существует несколько правил, которые помогают нам определять покупателей и бороться за них более эффективно. Ценности определяются знаниями покупателей об экономии, технологии, конкурентных предложениях и опыте использования продукции компании.
IV. Give a summary of the text.
Economics is about scarcity, about social situations, which require that choices be made. The theory of consumer behavior deals with the way in which scarcity impinges upon the individual consumer and hence deals with the way in which such an individual makes choices. This consumer may, but need not be, an individual person. Families and households also make collective consumption choices on behalf of their members. The theory takes the consumer unit as given. It therefore presents us with an important instance of how social sciences, such as sociology and social psychology, which deal, in part, with the way in which people organize themselves into household and other units, could complement economics.
The theory of consumer choice has many applications. It enables us to deal with the selection of consumption patterns at a particular time and the allocation of consumption over time, and hence with saving. The individual supplying labor can be thought of as simultaneously choosing an amount of leisure time, so the same theory is relevant there as it is when we come to consider behavior in the face of risk. Moreover, in constructing a theory to deal with problems such as these, we are forced to think carefully and to define precisely, such much abused terms as “real income” and the “cost of living”, so that our theory gives us many valuable insights into matters of potentially considerable practical importance.
In order to derive the model of choice-making we need to describe first of all the logical structure of the choice problem which faces any consumer. We will find it helpful to think of that structure as being made up of three components. First, we must consider the items which the consumer finds desirable, the object of choice. Secondly, since the desirability of an object does not necessarily imply that it is available to be chosen, we must consider any limitations that might be placed on the alternatives available to the consumer, the constraints upon choice. Finally, because choice necessarily involves the process of selection among alternatives, we must consider the way in which the consumer ranks the alternatives available, the consumer’s tastes or preferences.
The objects of consumer’s choice are goods and services, yielding utility, which may be ordered and (in principal) measured. The consumer’s budget constraint shows how the upper limit on consumption (usually present disposable income) may be allocated among consumption patterns or goods at given prices. The position of the budget line is determined by income and price alone. Its slope reflects only relative prices.
Consumer tastes can be represented by a map of non-intersecting indifference curves. Along each indifference curve, utility is constant. Higher indifference curves are preferred to lower indifference curves. Since the consumer prefers more to less, indifference curves must slope downwards. To preserve a given level of utility, increases in the quantity of one good must be offset by reductions in the quantity of the good.
Indifference curves reflect the principle of a diminishing marginal rate of substitution. Their slope becomes flatter as we move along them to the right. To preserve utility, consumers will sacrifice ever smaller amounts of one good to obtain successive unit increases in the amount of the other good.
Maximizing consumer utility generates an equilibrium where the budget constraint and the highest possible indifference curve are tangential. At any point other that equilibrium, the consumer can substitute one good for another and increase utility. In equilibrium the marginal rate of substitution between goods is equal to their ratio of prices.
Income-consumption and price-consumption curves describe how the quantity demanded of a good alters with variations in income and price.
At constant prices, an increase in income leads to a parallel outward shift in the budget line. If goods are normal the quantity demanded will increase.
A change in the price of one good rotates the budget line around the point at which none of that good is purchased. Such a price change has an income effect and a substitution effect. The income effect of a price increase is to reduce the quantity demanded for all normal goods. The substitution effect, induced by relative price movements alone, leads consumers to substitute away from the good whose relative price has increased.
In a two-good world, a good whose quantity purchased moves together with the changes in the price of the other good is called substitute. That, whose quantity moves in opposite directions to the other good’s price change is a complement.
The Engel curve maps quantity demanded of one good against changes in income. The ratio of the marginal propensity to consume (slope of the Engel curve) to the average propensity to consume (ratio of quantity demanded to income) is known as the income elasticity of demand.
The demand curve relates quantity demanded of one good to its own price. The own price elasticity of demand is given by the slope of the demand curve (treating quantity as the dependent variable) divided by the ratio of quantity demanded to price. The cross elasticity of demand measures the proportional change in the quantity demanded of one good to a proportional price of another.
Transfers in cash and kind. Cash transfers allow consumers to spend the extra income in any way that they desire. Transfers in kind may limit the consumer’s option. Where they do, The increase in consumer utility will be less than under a cash transfer of the same monetary value. Yet transfers in kind are politically popular. The electorate wants to know that money raised in taxation is being wisely spent. Some who favor transfers in kind will argue that the poor really do not know how to spend their money wisely. One view says that people can best choose for themselves, whereas the other says that people may not act in their own best interests. This issue is not merely one of economics but also of philosophy, involving wider questions such as liberty and paternalism. In so far as people are capable of judging their own self-interest, economic analysis is clear: people will be better off, or at least no worse off, if they are given transfers in cash rather than in kind.
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What does the theory of consumer goods enable us to do?
2. What are the components of the logical structure of the choice problem?
. What is the difference between a substitute and a complement?
. When do we have an income effect and a substitution effect?
. How a given level of utility can be preserved?
. How utility can be preserved?
II. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Objects of consumer choice |
A. relates quantity demanded of one good to its own price |
|
2. Engel curve |
B. generates an equilibrium where the budget constraint and the highest possible indifference curve are tangential |
|
3. Maximizing consumer utility |
C. can be represented by a map of non-intersecting indifference curves |
|
4. Consumer tastes |
D. maps quantity demanded of one good against changes in income |
|
5. Budget constraint |
E. are goods and services, yielding utility which can be ordered and measured |
|
6. Indifference curves |
F. shows how the upper limit of consumption may be allocated among consumption patterns or goods at given prices |
|
7. Demand curve |
G. reflect the principle of a diminish marginal rate of substitution |
III. Fill in the gaps:
1. The position of the budget curve is determined by … .
. Consumer tastes can be represented by a map of … .
. At constant prices, an increase in income leads to a parallel outward shift in … .
. Income-consumption and … curves describe how the quantity demanded of a good alters with variations in income and price.
. …may restrain the choices a consumer can make.
. In equilibrium … substitution between goods is equal to their ratio of prices.
IV. Render the text in English:
В 19 веке многие экономисты были обескуражены следующей проблемой: почему цена воды, столь необходимой для жизни человека, настолько ниже цены алмазов, имеющих только декоративную функцию? Один простой ответ состоит в том, что алмазы редки, а вода находится в изобилии. Но такой ответ не может быть исчерпывающим, поскольку совокупная полезность, получаемая потребителями от использования воды, выше, чем от использования алмазов. Эта проблема решается в рамках концепции предельной полезности.
Потребители продолжают покупать товар до тех пор, пока отношение его предельной полезности к цене равно этому отношению для других благ. В пределе последний литр воды, который мы выпиваем, дает очень малое приращение полезности, тогда как в пределе последний алмаз, который некто покупает, как правило, делает его очень счастливым.
Чтобы как-то иначе представить суть проблемы, вообразите, что некто, имевший алмаз в один карат, умирает от жажды, и у него появилась возможность купить один литр воды за алмаз. Можете быть уверены, что он с упоением совершил бы эту сделку, потому что в этих условиях предельная полезность воды была бы намного выше предельной полезности алмаза.
Part II. Review Tests
|
1. Goods |
A. a reduction in the level of total spending resulting in lower levels of trade, profits, and prices |
|
2. Boom |
B. the raw materials, tools and machines employed in the production process |
|
3. Deflation |
C. the branch of economics concerned with aggregates, such as national income, consumption, and investment |
|
4. Market |
D. a period of high economic growth |
|
5. Slump |
E. commodities that are tangible, usually movable, and generally not consumed at the same time as they are produced |
|
6. Macroeconomics |
F. an economic condition characterized by substantial unemployment, low output and investment, etc. |
|
7. Means of production |
G. the doctrine of unrestricted freedom in commerce, especially for private interests |
|
8. Laissez-faire |
H. an institutional arrangement that fosters trade or exchange |
II. Put the words in the correct order:
1. Restrictions, can, on, business, do, face, with, owners, they, capital, many, their, what.
. Analysis, commodities, individual, with, decisions, microeconomic, deals, particular, about.
. Science, of, extent, it, principles, a, economics, to, set, is, analytical, the, comprises, that, a.
. Studies, every, for, theory, commodity, general, market, simultaneously, equilibrium, every.
5. All, aggregate, we, purchases, discuss, of, behavior, total, the, can, households, and, production, to, firms, and.
6. Needs, it, prosperity, the, know, everyone, explains, to, framework, economics, of, some, because.
III. Fill in the gaps with the words or word combinations in italics:
Market forces, value, depression, business activity, planning, economists, welfare, inputs, economic growth, capitalist, consumer goods, national income, macroeconomics, publicly owned, management.
1. The central problem of … in the second half of the twentieth century is the … of prosperity to maximize individual … .
. …look forward to a future where the stockpiling of … ceases to be the major preoccupation of people’s minds.
. In former times, the free play of … was left to decide the level of …, and the rate of … .
. Modern economics is the study of how … is determined, and how … relate to each other in production.
. The new economics can handle the cycles of … which caused such distress in the early years of the … system.
. Even in countries with rigid state …, where large companies are …, those who can afford it can own a small business.
. In the past economy tended to grow in spiral-like movements of … .
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Capitalism can never exist with central planning.
2. The whole economy stands or falls by what is achieved for the individual.
. The unique feature of economics is that it studies human behavior.
. Economics shouldn’t be regarded as a set body of principles.
. Macroeconomics in modern society is largely a study of government economics.
. Controls over economic activity are likely to decrease in the future.
. The outcome of any macroeconomic policy is always certain.
. There is still disagreement about the nature and scope of economic inquiry.
. Private ownership in a country and its reliance on free markets are equivalent features.
. As a rule, microeconomists focus on one aspect of economic behavior in order to preserve the simplicity of the analysis.
V. Translate the following sentences into English:
1. Экономика, в отличие от родственных социальных наук, изучает поведение человека в условиях рынка.
. Предметом макроэкономической теории является функционирование экономики, рассматриваемой как единое целое.
. Экономика капитализма отнюдь не исключает государственного планирования.
. Макроэкономическое равновесие представляет собой единственный ценовой уровень, при котором объем предлагаемой на рынке совокупной продукции равен величине совокупного спроса.
. Экономический рост –это долгосрочная тенденция увеличения реального объема производства.
. Такие ключевые вопросы, как место экономики в ряду других дисциплин, методы и масштабы экономического исследования и др., до сих пор вызывают оживленные споры.
. Спад –исходная фаза экономического цикла, характеризующаяся снижением деловой активности, сокращением объемов производства и инвестиций, а также ростом безработицы.
. Различают два подхода к изучению совокупного предложения: классический (долгосрочный период) и кейнсианский (краткосрочный период).
. В определенной точке экономического цикла объемы производства достигают максимальных значений, после чего начинается их постепенное снижение, зачастую в результате государственного регулирования.
. В рамках микроэкономики рассматривается поведение и взаимодействие индивидов, домохозяйств, фирм и функционирование отдельных рынков.
TEST 2. (Labour, Unemployment)
I. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Incentive |
A. the systematic shifting of employees from one job to another |
|
2. Labour force |
B. the irreducible minimum level of unemployment in a dynamic society |
|
3. Unemployment rate |
C. working at a secondary job |
|
4. Sabotage |
D. an additional payment made to employees as a means of increasing production |
|
5. Frictional unemployment |
E. work requiring little specialized training |
|
6. Moonlighting |
F. the total number of workers available for employment in a country |
|
7. Job rotation |
G. the deliberate destruction, or damage of equipment, a public service, etc., by dissatisfied employees |
|
8. Unskilled labour |
H. the percentage of people without a job but registered as being willing and available for work |
II. Put the words in the correct order:
1. Of, increases, labour, to, moonlighting, supply, entrepreneurs, the, available.
. Demand, a, leads, output, in, lower, and, fall, to, employment, aggregate.
. Difference, unemployment, and, stresses, modern, the, involuntary, analysis, between, voluntary.
. Continuing, are, retirement, of, people, capable, age, employment, in, many, productive, of.
. Standard, force, fully, the, raising, of, depends, living, a, labour, on, effective.
. Motivating, and, enrichment, provide, to, advancement, job, opportunities, tends, growth, for.
III. Fill in the gaps with the words or word combinations in italics:
Working hours, specialization, job enlargement, take on, supply, wage rate, skilled, income, competition, quality, train, participation rate, redundant.
1. A lot of … workers may be made … when an industry declines in the face of foreign … .
. In …, the employee is given more things to do within the same job.
. More important than the actual … of labour is the … of labour.
. The … is the percentage of the population of working age who declare themselves to be in the labour force.
. Some workers prefer extra … to shorter … .
. Firms are often reluctant to … and … older workers.
. Some people want to work at the current … but can’t find jobs.
. The most significant drawback of … is monotony.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Moonlighting is quite common because most people like working late.
. Frictional unemployment can be reduced.
. The labour force comprises all those employed or willing to find a job.
. Where there are few incentives labour is less efficient.
. Demand-deficient unemployment occurs when aggregate demand exceeds full-employment aggregate demand.
. Skilled labour tends to be more specific than semi-skilled labour.
. Structural unemployment is created when the wage is deliberately maintained above the equilibrium wage rate.
. Labour is the supply of human resources, both physical and mental, which are available to engage in the production of goods and services.
. Classical unemployment is involuntary.
. All those people who are looking for work will be automatically included in the official statistics for the labour force, whether or not they have registered as unemployed.
V. Translate the following sentences into English:
1. В состав рабочей силы не включаются две группы населения: лица нетрудоспособного возраста, а также лица, которые по каким-либо причинам не могут или не хотят трудиться.
. К наиболее серьезным социальным последствиям безработицы относится потеря квалификации.
. Материальное поощрение дает стимул для повышения производительности труда.
. Структурная безработица возникает в результате изменений в экономике, приводящих к сокращению спроса на одни профессии и повышению спроса на другие.
. Безработные –это люди трудоспособного возраста, которые не имеют работы, но активно ее ищут и готовы приступить к работе немедленно.
. Число фрикционных и структурных безработных в сумме составляет естественный уровень безработицы.
. В настоящее время многие устраиваются на работу по совместительству, поскольку она приносит дополнительный доход.
. В сложившихся экономических условиях большинство людей пенсионного возраста стараются по возможности продолжать работу.
. Существует взаимозависимость между повышением эффективности труда и ростом уровня жизни.
10. Средства, вложенные в образование, со временем окупаются, так как они позволяют человеку найти более интересную и высокооплачиваемую работу.
TEST 3. (Wants and Utilities, Supply and Demand)
I. Match the terms with their definition:
|
1. marginal utility |
A. is decided by the interaction of supply and demand |
|
2. price |
B. are the basic needs of mankind |
|
3. wants |
C. describes the behaviour of sellers |
|
4. total utility |
D. is the desire to buy supported by the ability to pay |
|
5. effective demand |
E. is the utility of one unit of a good or service |
|
6. supply |
F. is the satisfaction we receive from possessing one extra unit of a commodity |
II. Put the words in the correct order:
1. wants, satisfy, which, purpose, economy, to create, mankind’s, the, of, an, is, utilities, will.
. is, varies, changing, demand, not, but, with, fixed, conditions.
. the, the, of, of, of, effects, price, enterprise, an, commodity, prospects, profitability.
. “wants”, “wants”, even, we, these, when, other, present, more, themselves, have, basic, advanced.
. are, our, by, which, services, attention, intangible, personal, “utilities”, needs, satisfy.
III. Fill in the gaps with the words in italics:
Scale, commodity, goods, price, requirements, scale, substitutes, services, purchasers, competitor.
1. An increased demand raises … .
. When the price of a … rises the quantity that is supplied will be increased.
3. … are tangible items which either satisfy the basic … of human life or make that life fuller and richer.
. Scale of preferences is an arrangement of things in one’s own mind with the most preferred items towards the top of the … .
. Demand is the quantity of goods and … which … are prepared to buy at a given price in a given period of time.
. If the goods are close … for one another, the price of one will be seriously affected by a lower price of its … .
IV. Are the statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Man’s wants and demands are unlimited.
. Demand is set.
. Total utility usually rises while marginal utility always falls.
. When the price of a commodity rises the quantity that is demanded will be increased.
. Suppliers don’t vary in their ability to supply.
. A progressive system of taxation strengthens the purchasing power of consumers.
. If there is an alternative to a commodity, then it is no longer a necessity.
. A decreased supply lowers market price.
V. Translate the following terms into English:
1. потребительская корзина
. предельная полезность
. человеческие потребности
. убывающая предельная полезность
. удовлетворять потребности
. создавать полезности
. общая полезность
. основные требования (запросы) человеческой жизни
. потребительские товары
. факторы производства
TEST 4. (Market, Markets and Monopolies)
I. Match the terms with their definitions:
|
1. Equilibrium |
A. prices now current in the market |
|
2. Prevailing price |
B. a state of balance when all the economic forces present in a situation have an equal influence and there is no tendency to change |
|
3. Patent |
C. something which encourages one to greater activity |
|
4. Barriers to entry |
D. a market with single buyer who has some influence over the price of his output |
|
5. Incentive |
E. protection from being copied or sold by those who do not have a right to do so |
|
6. Franchise |
F. factors which prevent the entry of new firms into an industry |
|
7. Monopsony |
G. privileges |
|
8. Natural monopoly |
I. a market consisting of two sellers |
|
9. Duopoly |
J. a situation when a single firm can serve a particular market at lower cost than any combination of two or more firms |
II. Match the two parts of the sentences:
1. Natural monopoly arises out of … .
. Monopoly is a situation where … .
. Monopolies can only continue to exist if … .
. When there are only a few buyers, … .
. An oligopoly is a market characterized by a small number of firms … .
. Oligopoly is distinguished from perfect competition because … .
. When all firms are of (roughly) equal size, … .
. A market is simply a mechanism, … .
A. …which allows individuals or organizations to trade with each other
B. …the properties of productive technology
C. …who realize they are independent in their pricing and out polices
D. …the oligopoly is said to be symmetric
E. …each firm in an oligopoly has to take into account their independence
F. …there is a single seller in the market
G. …the market is defined as an oligopsony
H. …there are barriers to entry
III. Fill in the blanks with the words or word combinations in italics:
Aggregate supply, geographic areas, scope, aggregate demand, buyers, transacted, dimensions, actual, sellers, products, potential
1. Markets can be in “equilibrium” or “disequilibrium” depending on whether or not … equals … at the prevailing price.
. Markets may be local, regional, national or international in … and do not necessarily require … and … to meet or communicate directly with each other.
. Business may be … through the use of intermediaries as well.
. There are two fundamental … of market definition: the product market, that is, where … group together and the geographic market, that is, where… group together.
. Market definition generally includes … and … sellers.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. When a market functions properly, the quantity of goods and services demanded and supplied must be equal at some given price.
. Markets are similar in scope. There are only local markets where buyers and sellers must meet and communicate directly with each other.
. To define a relevant market all you need is to identify the number of companies and products available in the market.
. Monopolists, being largely immune from competitive pressures, do not have the appropriate incentives to minimize costs or undertake technological change.
5. An oligopoly is a market characterized by a large number of firms who realize they are dependent in their pricing and output polices.
V. Translate the following sentences into English:
1. Рынок –это открытое для всех место, где покупаются и продаются товары или услуги, напрямую или через посредников.
. Рынок, где спрос на продукцию больше имеющегося предложения, называется рынком продавца, а рынок, где предложение превышает спрос, цены низкие, а условия сделок устанавливаются покупателями, называется рынком покупателя.
. Монополистическая конкуренция –это ситуация, когда на рынке присутствуют несколько продавцов, каждый из которых способен устанавливать цену, то есть каждый имеет некоторую монополистическую власть.
. Монопольное положение позволяет фирме сохранять любые сверхприбыли.
. Цена, при которой предложение товара равно спросу на него, называется равновесной ценой.
. Цены на аналогичные товары могут отличаться и зависеть от времени и места продажи или его качества.
. Картель создается для взаимной пользы фирм –членов картеля.
TEST 5. (Money, Pricing, The Problem of Inflation)
|
1. Penetration pricing |
A. selling a product at a high price, sacrificing high sales in order to earn high profits |
|
2. Creaming (skimming) |
B. the quantity of goods or services that money will buy at a certain time |
|
3. Legal tender |
C. the bank’s liabilities to its customers |
|
4. Demand inflation |
D. selling a different price for the same product in different segments of the market |
|
5. Token money |
E. the kind of inflation that is caused by rising costs of labour and materials |
|
6. Price discrimination |
F. coins in which the metallic content is less valuable than the face value |
|
7. Cost inflation |
G. selling an initial low price for a new product so that it is attractive to customers |
|
8. Bank deposit |
H. the form of money in which a person has a right by law to pay a debt |
|
9. Barter |
I. the kind of inflation caused by an excess of demand over supply resulting in a decrease in the value of money |
|
10. Value of money |
J. exchange of goods for goods |
II. Put the words in the correct order:
1. system, trade, until, has, is, full, a, usually, by, on, carried, barter, developed, money, been.
. charged, any, needs, carefully, the, by, to think, price, rivals, business, about.
. be, the, price, must, general, a, form, level, average, of, therefore.
. acceptable, to be, it, if, tender, is not, legal, generally, will, then, money, cease.
. is, would, once, in, business, the, a, established, product, raise, its, market, the, price.
. of, index, the, price, normal, of, method, is, the, calculation, by, use.
III. Fill in the gaps with the words or word combinations in italics:
Money, creaming, value, cost inflation, losses, demand inflation, increases, barter, legal tender, price
1. …is setting a high price for a product initially and lowering it later on.
2. Money is only a claim against the real goods that have … .
. …assumes that the collective upwards “push” of costs is sufficient to raise the general level of prices.
. Charging a price similar to competitors is one way to set prices but it might lead to … .
. …in the quantity of money were likely to lead to increases in prices.
. If … is not generally acceptable then it will cease to be money.
. …is one element of the marketing mix.
. …is of no use unless the wealth is being created.
. …takes place when supply cannot respond (i.e. when most of all resources are already employed) and leads to a rise in prices instead of to extra output.
. …entails the necessity of a double coincidence of wants.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Paper money is convertible into gold.
2. Bank deposits, which are money, are not legal tender.
. A fall in prices means that the value of money has risen.
. The value of money changes proportionally with changes in the price level.
. The price of similar competitive products does not influence pricing.
. When the price covers both the average fixed and variable costs of the product, the business is said to be full-cost pricing.
. The measurement of the inflation does not depend upon the general price level.
. The selling of the country’s currency often takes place when inflation rates exceed the tolerances allowed for by the government.
V. Translate the following terms into English:
1. стратегия «снятия сливок»
. стратегия «проникновения на рынок»
. ценовая дискриминация
. индекс розничных цен
. ползущая инфляция
. поднимать уровень цен
. средство сохранения стоимости
. номинальная стоимость
. внутренняя (реальная) стоимость
. законное платежное средство
TEST 6. (Banking, Central Banking, Loans in the UK)
|
1. Legal tender |
A. a bank officially appointed by law to work closely with the government |
|
2. Central bank |
B. a joint stock bank |
|
3. The balloon loan |
C. the form of money in which a person has a right by law to pay a debt |
|
4. Commercial bank |
D. a loan where the repayments are unevenly distributed throughout the life of the loan |
|
5. Fund |
E. an amount of money borrowed by an individual or a company |
|
6. Loan |
F. amounts of money |
II. Put the words in the correct order:
1. The, of, on, to, and, a, its, nature bank, setting, largely, which, according, function, time, vary, central, depends.
. Loans, as, and, are, irregularly, such, balloon, bullet, repaid.
. Rate, as, loan, interest, the, is, the, the, in, market, determined, price, equilibrium.
. “Legal tender”, coins, of, the, in, and, status, notes, have, circulation.
. Methods, central, banking, objectives, and, widely, commercial, differing, involve, and, functions.
III. Fill in the gaps with the words or word combinations in italics:
Transactions, customer, certified, loan, cheque, cash, cheque, currency, balloon
. The most common means of payment, particularly for significant sums of money, is the … since it is both safer and more convenient than using … .
. Central banking is an activity separate from ordinary … banking, because a central bank usually has few … with private customers, dealing primarily with commercial bank and with the national government.
. If a … wishes to make payments of large amounts of money by … and is not known to the creditor, then he may obtain a “… cheque” from the bank.
. The hard and the soft … is given by one country to another on condition that the borrower repays it in the lender’s … or the borrower’s currency.
. The … loan is a loan where the repayments are unevenly distributed throughout the life of the loan.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. Paper money consists of notes issued by commercial banks.
. Coins and bills of every denomination are called legal tender.
. Central bank is a bank officially appointed by law to work closely with the government.
. Commercial banking system is profit motivated.
. Functions of commercial banks are unlimited.
. Certified cheques are always guaranteed by a bank.
. Bills of exchange are now used mainly in foreign trade.
. The interest rate can’t be determined as the equilibrium price in the loan market.
V. Translate the following terms into English:
1. законное платежное средство
. дорожный чек
. коммерческий банк
. выплатить по чеку
. финансовый агент правительства
. выпускать банкноты
. льготный заем
. заемщик
. закладная на имущество
10. ссудный процент
TEST 7. (Market Research, Marketing, Consumer Choice)
|
1. Market research |
A. relates quantity demanded of one good to its own price |
|
2. Secondary data |
B. the process of gaining information about customers, competitors and market trends through collecting primary and secondary data |
|
3. Engel curve |
C. maps quantity demanded of one good against changes in income |
|
4. Objects of consumer |
D. finding out information from secondary data choice |
|
5. Desk research |
E. information which already exists |
|
6. Consumer tastes |
F. goods and services, yielding utility which can be ordered and measured |
|
7. Field research |
G. the process of collecting primary data |
|
8. Demand curve |
H. can be represented by a map of non-intersecting indifference curves |
|
9. Marketing |
I. the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. |
II. Put the words in the correct order:
1. Prefers, since, the, more, consumer, to, indifference, less, must, downwards, curves, slope.
. Sale, in, every, a, random, respondent, an, potential, has, of, chance, chosen, equal, being.
. Reflect, curves, the, indifference, of, principle, a, marginal, diminishing, of, substitution, rate.
. Can, information, business, which, collect, is, from, sources, available, the, outside, business.
. Are, goods, if, the, quantity, normal, will, demanded, increase.
. May, data, collected, primary, be, observation, survey, through, experiment, and.
III. Fill in the gaps with the words or word combinations in italics:
Substitute, accounts, tastes of preferences, equilibrium, budget constraint, primary data, observation, marketing, force, market research
1. The way in which the consumer ranks the alternatives available is called the consumer’s … .
. The consumer’s … shows how the upper limit on consumption may be allocated among consumption patterns or goods at given prices.
. Marketing is a … within the organization that encourages socially and ethically responsible behaviour in the market place.
. There is little universal agreement on the best or right definition of … .
. Finding out about what consumers want and need, and what makes them buy, is called … .
. …will give information about the value of sales and costs of production.
. …are collected through direct investigation.
. In a two-good world, a good whose quantity purchased moves together with the changes in the price of the other good is called … .
. Maximizing consumer utility generates an … where the budget constraint and the highest possible indifference curve are tangential.
. …can’t tell the supermarket anything about why shoppers are behaving in this or that way.
IV. Are the following statements true or false? Correct the false ones:
1. When the product is launched, a carefully researched product stands less chance of failing.
. Surveys cannot be useful for market research purposes if the questions asked are appropriate.
. Research involving asking questions of people or organizations is called a questionnaire.
. Product oriented business develops products which have been researched and designed to meet the needs of consumers.
. In equilibrium the marginal rate of substitution between goods is equal to their ratio of prices.
. The cross elasticity of demand measures the proportional change in the quantity demanded of one good to a proportional price of another.
. The foundation of exchange is creating or adding value for the buyer.
. To launch a new product is never very costly.
V. Translate the following terms into English:
1. предельная полезность
. функции маркетинга
. проводить опрос
. бороться за покупателей
. вопросник
. конкурентные предложения
. почтовый опрос
. делать выбор
Part III. Resource Tests
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) The collective conduct of all the firms in the industry will affect the whole industry’s performance.
b) Some industries tend more to the competitive extreme, and thus their performance corresponds to some extend to perfect competition.
c) The price they face is that determined by the interaction of demand and supply in the whole market.
d) The market structure under which a firm operates will determine its behaviour.
e) Each firm is so small relative to the whole industry that it has no power to influence price.
It is traditional to divide industries into categories according to the degree of competition that exists between the firms within the industry. There are four such categories.
At one extreme is perfect competition, where there are very many firms competing. ___ (1) It is a price taker. At the other extreme is monopoly, where there is just one firm in the industry, and hence no competition from within the industry. In the middle comes monopolistic competition, where there are quite a lot of firms competing and where there is freedom for new firms to enter the industry, and oligopoly, where there are only a few firms and where entry for new firms is restricted.
___ (2) Firms under perfect competition will behave quite differently from firms that are monopolists, which will behave differently again from firms under oligopoly and monopolistic competition.
This behaviour (or “conduct”) will in turn affect the firm’s performance: its prices, profits, efficiency, etc. In many cases it will also affect other firms’performance: their prices, profits, efficiency, etc. ___ (3)
Economists thus see a causal chain running from market structure to the performance of that industry.
Structure Conduct Performance
First, we shall look at the two extreme market structures: perfect competition and monopoly. Then we shall turn to look at the two intermediate cases of monopolistic competition and oligopoly.
These two intermediate cases are sometimes referred to collectively as imperfect competition. The vast majority of firms in the real world operate under imperfect competition. It is still worth studying the two extreme cases, however, because they provide the framework within which to understand the real world.
___ (4) Other industries tend more to the other extreme: for example, when there is one dominant firm and a few much smaller firms. In such cases, their performance corresponds more to monopoly.
II. For each question 1-4, mark one for the answer you choose.
. Perfect competition is a market structure
A. where each firm produces a differentiated product.
B. where there is freedom of entry to the industry.
C. in which there are a few firms.
2. Monopoly is a market structure
A. where a unique product is produced.
B. where the firm is a price taker.
C. where there are no restrictions to the entry of new firms.
3. Monopolistic competition is a market structure
A. where there are a few firms.
B. where each firm produces a homogeneous product.
C. where each firm has some control over its price.
4. Oligopoly is a market structure
A. where there are a lot of firms.
B. where there are no barriers to the entry of new firms.
C. where firms produce either an undifferentiated product or a differentiated one.
FREE-MARKET MEDICINE IN RUSSIA
economics monopolies inflation
Is the Patient Recovering?
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) No longer will the state guarantee employment and a moderate standard of living for all.
b) Many commentators began to wonder whether the economy could escape the slide into “hyperinflation” when money would become virtually worthless.
c) With the virtual abandonment of price controls, prices soared and by the end of 1992 inflation had reached a massive 1354 per cent.
d) Consumer choice decreased, too.
e) Such an impressive reduction in inflation was due largely to government successfully capping its spending.
. Reforming the old Soviet Union was never going to be easy. To replace central planning with free-markets and enterprise would involve a radical transformation of economic life. But following the rise to power of Boris Yeltsin in Russia in 1991, this is just what was attempted. The following policies were adopted in early 1992:
– Price controls on 90 per cent of items were abolished. But with shortages of most goods, it was hardly surprising that prices rose dramatically.
– Business was given easier access to foreign exchange, and foreign companies were encouraged to invest in Russia.
– The largest privatisation programme in the world was launched. In many of the new private companies, workers were to become the principal shareholders.
These reforms represented a massive shock to the old system. ___ (1) These huge price increases led to falling demand, but the disruption to the economy also led to falling supply. In 1992 output fell by nearly 20 per cent and the purchasing power of wages fell by 40 per cent.
2. The government’s budget deficit (the excess of government spending over government tax receipts) rose from 1.5 per cent of national income in the first quarter of 1992 to 15 per cent by the final quarter. Perhaps most significantly, the money supply rose nearly 600 per cent between January and October. ___ (2)
. Critics argued that the costs of reform were intolerably high. The Russian economy, inherently weak and resistant to change, was unprepared for the radical nature of the policy and as such the reform programme could not be sustained. They highlighted the following weaknesses inherited from the old system:
– Many Russian companies are virtual monopoly producers. If they run into trouble, as many have done, this leads to huge shortages throughout the economy.
– Industry, being used to taking orders from above, has been slow to adapt to economic change and the rigours of the marketplace. Much of it is highly inefficient and wasteful, making a poor use of very scarce resources. Estimates suggest that in 1992 Russia used 15 times as much steel and 6 times as much energy as the USA per unit of national output.
– With the freeing of prices, many firms in a monopoly position simply raised prices and reduced output. That way they could increase profits but with less effort.
Supporters of reform recognised these weaknesses, but maintained that they only strengthened the arguments for changing the old system. In addition, they argued that the reform package of 1991/2 did not go far enough. Price controls on certain goods remained. Price markups in state shops were limited to 25 per cent, oil prices were controlled and imports were subject to a 20 per cent tariff (customs duty).
4. Some supporters of reform argued that an economic slump was the medicine required to drive the old sickness out of the system. It would force inefficient producers out of the market, and the competition for survival would lead to greater productivity and ultimately to long-term prosperity.
. Four years on, it appeared that the supporters of reform may have been right in their judgements. The Russian economy seemed to have turned the corner. By mid-1996, annual inflation had fallen to 80 per cent. ___ (3) The government’s budget deficit was now well within the limits agreed with the International Monetary Fund. The rouble, after a disastrous collapse in 1994, seemed to have stabilised on the foreign exchange market. Output, however, was still falling. In 1995 output fell by 4 per cent. Nevertheless forecasters were predicting growth of upwards of 4 per cent for 1997 onwards.
. Critics of reform, even in the light of such real gains, still point to the hardship experienced by many Russians. Official unemployment stands at around 8 per cent, with an estimated additional 6 per cent hidden unemployment. In a fifth of all Russian regions, unemployment is over 30 per cent, and in a few over 50 per cent. Those in work have not fared much better. The average real wage fell by some 37 per cent between 1994 and 1996. Many Russians today are faced with severe hardship.
. Some, the “New Russians”, have become very wealthy-some legitimately, but some through criminal activities (the rise of the Russian Mafia has been a disturbing development). The rise of the wealthy further serves to highlight the growing divide between rich and poor.
. The old certainties have gone. ___ (4) Today’s market system in Russia is one where the strong gain and the weak lose.
II. Look at statements 1-3. In each statement, which phrase or sentence is correct?
. Imports were subject to a 20 per cent tariff.
A. Prices were controlled.
B. Government set up a 20 per cent tariff.
C. Customs duty was 20 per cent.
. In a fifth of all Russian regions, unemployment is over 30 per cent.
A. In every fifth region unemployment is 30 per cent.
B. In 20 per cent of all Russian regions unemployment rate exceeded 30 per cent.
C. In a few Russian regions unemployment grew up to 50 per cent.
3. Foreign companies were encouraged to invest in Russia.
A. Many new private companies stimulated investment.
B. Business was given easier access to foreign exchange.
C. The special policy was adopted in early 1992.
III. For each question 1-4, mark one for the answer you choose.
. It was hardly surprising that prices rose dramatically because
A. 90 per cent of items price were abolished.
B. the purchasing power of wages fell.
C. economy was short of most goods.
2. Price mark-ups in state shops
A. could not exceed 25 per cent.
B. was limited to 20 per cent.
C. equaled 25 per cent.
3. In “hyperinflation” money
A. would be practically worthless.
B. supply would rise dramatically.
C. is inherently weak for the radical nature of the policy.
. Some of the “New Russians” have become very wealthy –
A. with the rise of the Russian Mafia.
B. either legally or illegally.
C. to highlight the growing divide between rich and poor.
IV. Match each of these statements with one of the paragraphs numbered 1-8.
|
A. Free-market economy is a medication for central planning system |
|
|
B. Introduction of reform policies and their effects |
|
|
C. Counter-arguments against the transformation programme |
|
|
D. The turning point in the economic disaster |
V. Are sentences below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
. Critics of reform ignored its real gains.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. The government’s budget deficit rose by 13.5 per cent of national income throughout 1992.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Critics argued that the cost of reform was too high because of the negative comparison with USA national output of steel and energy.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. IMF agreed with the government’s budget deficit.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Reform supporters strengthened the arguments by requiring to abolish the rest of price controls and enforce competitive producers.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
VI. Complete the following table:
A. President at power in 1991
B. Inflation rate in mid-1996
C. Predicted growth for 1997 onwards
D. Average real wage between 1994 and 1996
E. Maximum inflation rate/when
F. Unofficial unemployment rate
VII. The mistakes in the sentences below have been underlined. Write the corrections in the spaces provided.
1. In 1995 out put had fallen by 4 per cent.
. In many of the new private companies, principal workers became a shareholders.
. Four years on, the Russian economy seemed to have being turning the corner.
. Critics of reform, though in the light of such real gains, still point to the hardship.
. Such an impressive reduction in inflation was of largely government successfully capped its spending.
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
SHOULD HEALTH CARE PROVISION BE LEFT TO THE MARKET?
1. When you go shopping you may well pay a visit to the chemist and buy a bottle of paracetamol, some sticking plasters or a tube of ointment. These health-care products are being sold through the market system in much the same way as other everyday goods and services such as food, household items and petrol.
But many health-care services and products are not allocated through the market in this way. In the UK, the National Health Service provides free hospital treatment, a free general practitioner service and free prescriptions for certain categories of people (such as pensioners and children). Their marginal cost to the patient is thus zero. Of course, these services use resources and they thus have to be paid for out of taxes. In this sense they are not free. (Have you heard the famous saying “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?)
But why are these services not sold directly to the patient, thereby saving the taxpayer money? Why is considered that certain types of health care should be provided free, whereas food should not? After all, they could both be considered as basic necessities of life.
The advocates of free health-care provision argue that there are a number of fundamental objections to relying on a market system of allocation of health care, many of which do not apply in the case of food, clothing, etc. So what are the reasons why a free market would fail to provide the optimum amount of health care?
2. There is a problem connected with the distribution of income. Because income is unevenly distributed, some people will be able to afford better treatment than others, and the poorest people may not be able to afford treatment at all. On the grounds of equity, therefore, it is argued that health care should be provided free –at least for poor people.
The concept of equity that is usually applied to health care is that of treatment according to medical need rather than according to the ability to pay.
3. If you were suddenly taken ill and required a major operation, or maybe even several, it could be very expensive indeed for you if you had to pay. On the other hand, you may go through life requiring very little if any medical treatment. In other words, there is great uncertainty about your future medical needs. As a result it would be very difficult to plan your finances and budget for possible future medical expenses if you had to pay for treatment. Medical insurance is a possible solution to this problem, but there is still a problem of equity. Would the chronically sick or very old be able to obtain cover, and if so, would the premiums be very high? Would the poor be able to afford the premiums? Also would insurance cover be comprehensive?
. There is also the problem of externalities. If you are cured of an infectious disease, for example, it is not just you who benefits but also others, since you will not infect them. Also your family and friends benefit from seeing you well; and if you have a job you will be able to get back to work, thus reducing the disruption there. These external benefits of health care could be quite large.
If the sick have to pay the cost of their treatment, they may decide not to be treated –especially if they are poor. They may not take into account the effect that their illness has on other people. The market, by equating private benefits and costs, would produce too little health care.
5. Markets only function well to serve consumer wishes if the consumer has the information to make informed decisions. If you are to buy the right things, you must know what you want and whether the goods you buy meet these wants. In practice, consumers do have pretty good knowledge about the things they buy. For example, when you go to the supermarket you will already have tried most of the items you that buy, and will therefore know how much you like them. Even with new products, provided they are the sort you buy more than once, you can learn from any mistakes.
In the case of health care, “consumers” (i.e. patients) may have very poor knowledge. If you have a pain in your chest, it may be simple muscular strain, or it may be a symptom of heart disease. You rely on the doctor (the supplier of the treatment) to give you the information: to diagnose your condition. Two problems could arise here if there were a market system of allocation health care.
The first is that unscrupulous doctors might advise more expensive treatment than is necessary, or drugs companies might persuade you to buy a more expensive branded product rather than an identical cheaper version.
The second is that patients suffering from the early stages of a serious disease might not consult their doctor until the symptoms become acute, by which time it might be too late to treat the disease, or very expensive to do so. With a free health service, however, there is likely to be an earlier diagnosis of serious conditions. On the other hand, some patients might consult their doctors over trivial complaints.
6. If doctors and hospitals operated in the free market as profit maximisers, it is possible that they would collude to fix standard prices for treatment, so as to protect their incomes.
Even if doctors did compete openly, it is unlikely that consumers would have the information to enable them to “shop around” for the best value. Doctor A may charge less than doctor B, but is the quality of service the same? Simple bedside manner –the thing that may most influence a patient’s choice –may be a poor indicator of the doctor’s skill and judgment.
7. To argue that the market system will fail to provide an optimal allocation of health-care resources does not in itself prove that free provision is the best alternative. In the USA there is much more reliance on private medical insurance. Only the very poor get free treatment.
Alternatively, the government may simply subsidise the provision of health care, so as to make it cheaper rather than free. This is the case with prescriptions and dental treatment in the UK, where many people have to pay part of the cost of treatment. Also the government can regulate the behaviour of the providers of health care, so as to prevent exploitation of the patient. Thus only people with certain qualifications are allowed to operate as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.
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A. Health care generates a number of benefits external to the patient. |
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B. There are alternative policies open to a government to tackle market failings. |
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C. It is difficult for people to predict their future medical needs. |
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D. Patients might be at a disadvantage because of their ignorance. |
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E. It is unlikely that competition would drive down prices charged by doctors and hospitals. |
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F. People may not be able to afford treatment. |
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G. It is important to make a distinction between health care and other products and services allocated through the market. |
II. Say whether the following sentences are “Right” or “Wrong”. If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
1. The National Health Service provides free medicines for everyone.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Health insurance could solve the problem of planning future medical expenses.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
3. The market would fail to produce sufficient health care by equating public benefits and costs.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
4. With a free health service, more people would consult their doctor at the early stages of a disease.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. The US government subsidises the provision of health care.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
III. For each question 1-5, mark one for the answer you choose.
1. The concept of equity applied to health care implies
A. treatment according to the ability to pay.
B. treatment according to social status.
C. treatment according to medical need.
2. The problem with medical insurance is that
A. the poor might not be able to obtain cover.
B. the premiums might be too high for the poor.
C. it might make it difficult for people to plan their budget.
. If there were a market system of allocating health care,
A. doctors and drugs companies would probably take advantage of patient ignorance.
B. patients would be better informed.
C. patients would be more willing to buy expensive branded products.
. In the free market
A. doctors’fees would be reduced by competition.
B. doctors might charge standard prices for treatment.
C. price would be an indicator of the doctor’s skill.
. According to the writer, a free health service
A. is sure to provide an optimal allocation of health-care resources.
B. should be restricted to the very poor.
C. is not necessarily the best alternative.
CAN THE MARKET PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
___ (1)
In recent years people have become acutely aware of the damage being done to the environment pollution. But if the tipping of chemicals and sewage into the rivers and seas and the spewing of toxic gases into the atmosphere cause so much damage, why does it continue? If we all suffer from these activities, both consumers and producers alike, then why will a pure market system not deal with the problem? After all, a market should respond to people’s interests.
___ (2)
The reason is that the costs of pollution are largely external costs. They are borne by society at large and only very slightly (if at all) by the polluter. If, for example, 10 000 people suffer from the smoke from a factory (including the factory owner) then that owner will only bear approximately 1/10 000 of the suffering. That personal cost may be quite insignificant when the owner is deciding whether the factory is profitable. And if the owner lives far away, the personal cost of the pollution will be zero.
Thus the social costs of polluting activities exceed the private costs. If people behave selfishly and only take into account the effect their actions have on themselves, there will be an overproduction of polluting activities.
Thus it is argued that governments must intervene to prevent or regulate pollution, or alternatively to tax the polluting activities or subsidise measures to reduce the pollution.
___ (3)
But if people are purely selfish, why do they buy “green” products? Why do they buy, for, example, “ozone-friendly” aerosols? After all, the amount of damage done to the ozone layer from their own personal use of “non-friendly” aerosols would be absolutely minute. The answer is that many people have a social conscience. They do sometimes take into account the effect their actions have on other people. They are not totally selfish. They like to do their own little bit, however small, towards protecting the environment.
Nevertheless to rely on people’s consciences may be a very unsatisfactory method of controlling pollution. In a market environment where people are all the time being encouraged to consume more and more goods and where materialism is the religion of the age, there would have to be a massive shift towards “green thinking” if the market were to be a sufficient answer to the problem of pollution.
___ (4)
Certain types of environment problem may get high priority in the media, like acid rain, the greenhouse effect, damage to the ozone layer and brain damage to children from leaded petrol. However, the sheer range of polluting activities makes reliance on people’s awareness of the problems and their social consciences far too arbitrary.
I. Which text reports on these items?
A. Media priority of the environmental problems.
B. Costs of pollution.
C. A market response to the environmental problem.
D. People’s selfishness and social responsibility.
II. For each question 1-4, mark one for the answer you choose.
1. A market system should deal with the problem of pollution because
A. consumers suffer from producers’activities.
B. people have become acutely aware of the problem.
C. it should react to people’s interests.
. The costs of pollution
A. are mostly suffered by society.
B. are borne by the polluter.
C. are personal costs of the factory owner.
3. People buy “green” products and “ozone-friendly” aerosols because
A. they are totally selfish.
B. they are aware of the damage they do to the ozone layer from their personal use of “non-friendly” goods.
C. being socially responsible they take into consideration the possible impact of their actions on other people.
. A very unsuitable way of controlling pollution could be
A. encouraging people to buy more and more goods.
B. organizing “green thinking” propaganda.
C. relying on people’s being socially conscious.
III. The mistakes in the sentences below have been underlined. Write the corrections in the spaces provided.
. Recently people became aware of the damage being done to the environment by pollution.
. Personal costs may be quite insignificantly when the owner is deciding whether the factory is profitable.
. People take into account the effect their actions have to themselves.
. They like to do their own little bit, otherwise small, towards protecting the environment.
. To rely on people’s conscious may be a very unsatisfactory method of controlling pollution.
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
Strategic trade theory
An argument for protection?
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) Governments frequently adopt trade protection because it is an easy option politically.
b) These policies include quotas, exchange controls, import licensing, export taxes, tariffs.
c) Infra-industry occurs because of scale economies and consumer demand for diversity.
d) Reasons for restricting trade that have some validity in a world context include some arguments.
e) Although international trade can benefit the world as a whole, some countries will lose out until the gainers compensate the losers.
1. Lester Thurow is Dean of the Sloan School of management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also one of the USA’s best-known and most articulate advocates of “managed trade”.
. Thurow (and others) have been worried by the growing penetration of US markets by imports from Japan, Europe and many developing countries. Their response is to call for a carefully worked-out strategy of protection for US industries. ___ (1)
The strategic trade theory that they support argues that the real world is complex. It is wrong, they claim, to rely on free trade and existing comparative advantage. Particular industries will require particular policies of protection or promotion tailored to their particular needs: ___ (2)
3. Some industries will require protection against unfair competition from abroad –not just to protect the industries themselves, but also to protect the consumer from the oligopolistic power that the foreign companies will gain if they succeed in driving the domestic producers out of business.
4. Thurow claims that Japan has been following a policy of managed trade for years –and look how successful it has been!
. But, despite the enthusiasm of the strategic trade theorists, their views have come in for concerted criticism from economic liberals. If the USA is protected from cheap Japanese imports, they claim, all that will be achieved is a huge increase in consumer prices. The car, steel, telecommunications and electrical goods industries might find their profits bolstered, but this is hardly likely to encourage them to be more efficient.
. Another criticism of managed trade is the difficulty of identifying just which industries need protection, and how much and for how long. Governments do not have perfect knowledge. What is more, the political lobbyists from various interested groups are likely to use all sorts of tactics –legal and illegal –to persuade the government to look favourably on them. In the face of such pressure will the government remain “objective”? No, say the liberals. ___ (3)
. So how do the strategic trade theorists reply? If it works for Japan, they say, it can work for the USA. What is needed is a change in attitudes. ___ (4) Rather than industry looking on the government as either an enemy to be outwitted or a potential benefactor to be wooed, and government looking on industry as a source of votes or tax revenues, both sides should try to develop a partnership –a partnership from which the whole country can gain.
. But whether sensible, constructive managed trade is possible in the US democratic system, or the UK for that matter, is a highly debatable point. “Sensible” managed trade, say the liberals, is just pie in the sky.
II. For each statement 1-3, mark one for the answer you choose.
. Managed trade relies on:
A. free market.
B. existing comparative advantage.
C. government intervention.
2. Industries might find their profit bolstered because:
A. They are protected from export.
B. They are protected from importation of cheap goods.
C. They are very efficient.
. The liberals are convinced that sensible constructive managed trade is:
A. possible in the US democratic system.
B. possible in the UK.
C. hardly possible.
III. Are sentences below “right” or “wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
1. Advocates of managed trade claim that governments may intervene in trade.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Economic liberals argue that free trade may allow the importation of harmful goods.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
3. Supporters of managed trade insist on legal and administrative barriers.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Critics of free trade don’t believe in sensible, constructive managed trade.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. The argument for restricting trade is the danger of the establishment of a foreign-based monopoly.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
IV. Match each of these statements with one of the paragraphs numbered 1-8.
A. Although there are many circumstances in which international trade can make countries better off, international trade can also carry costs.
B. Countries may also promote their own industries by subsidies.
C. The government can’t remain objective in the face of political lobbyists.
D. Managed trade is a debating point.
CONCENTRATION RATIOS
Measuring the degree of competition
We can get some indication of how competitive a market is by observing the number of firms: the more the firms, the more competitive the market would seem to be. However, this does not tell us anything about how concentrated the market might be. There may be many firms (suggesting a situation of perfect competition or monopolistic competition), but the largest two firms might produce 95 per cent of total output. This would make these two firms more like oligopolists.
Thus even though a large number of producers may make the market seem highly competitive, this could be deceiving. Another approach, therefore, to measuring the degree of competition is to focus on the level of concentration of firms.
The simplest measure of industrial concentration involves adding together the market share of the largest so many firms: e.g. the largest three or the largest five. This would give what is known as the “3-firm” or “5-firm concentration ratio”.
The table (Fig. 1) shows the 5-firm concentration ratios of selected industries in the UK. As you can see, there is an enormous variation in the degree of concentration from one industry to another.
One of the main reasons for this is difference in the percentage of total industry output at which economies of scale are exhausted. If this occurs at a low level of output, there will be room for several firms in the industry which are all benefiting from the maximum economies of scale.
Differences in the economies of scale are not the only cause of differences in concentration. The degree of concentration will also depend on the barriers to entry of other firms into the industry and on various factors such as transport costs and historical accident. It will also depend on how varied the products are within any one industrial category. For example, in categories as large as “clothing” and “toys and sports goods” there is room for many firms, each producing a specialized range of products. Within each sub-category, e.g. tennis racquets, there may be relatively few firms producing.
So is the degree of concentration a good guide to the degree of competitiveness of the industry? The answer is that it is some guide, but on its own it can be misleading. In particular it ignores the degree of competition from abroad, and from other areas within the country. Thus the five largest UK motor vehicle manufacturers may produce 82.9 per cent of UK vehicle output, but these manufacturers face considerable competition from imported cars and lorries. On the other hand, the five largest water suppliers may account for only 49.7 per cent of UK output, but within their own regions of the country they have a monopoly.
Figure 1
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Industry |
-firm concentration ratio |
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Tobacco products |
.5 |
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Iron and steel |
.3 |
|
Asbestos goods |
.8 |
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Motor vehicles and engines |
.9 |
|
Cement, lime and plaster |
.7 |
|
Grain milling |
.3 |
|
Water supply |
.7 |
|
Footwear |
.2 |
|
Bread, biscuits, etc. |
.0 |
|
Carpets |
.8 |
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Clothing |
.7 |
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Bolts, nuts and springs |
.4 |
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Processing of plastics |
.8 |
I. Are the sentences below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
1. The more the firms, the more concentrated the market is.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
2. The simplest measure of industrial concentration involves summing up the market share of the largest companies existing on the market.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
3. The degree of concentration only varies from one industry to another because of the differences in the extent of economies of scale.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. In such categories as “clothing” and “toys and sports goods” there is not much room for many firms.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
5. The degree of concentration on its own can’t reflect the situation in the market.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
II. For each question, mark one for the answer you choose.
. We can get some indication of how competitive a market is by
A. observing the number of firms.
B. analyzing activities of the companies in the market.
C. measuring the degree of competition.
2. The degree of concentration doesn’t depend on
A. barriers to entry of other firms into the industry.
B. transport costs.
C. history of the company.
. Within each industrial sub-category
A. the number of companies increases.
B. there may be fewer companies producing similar goods.
C. there is enough space for many companies.
III. In most of the lines below there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or doesn’t fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If there is an extra word, write it out in CAPITAL LETTERS.
So is the degree of firm concentration a good guide to
the degree of competitiveness of the industry? The
answer is that it is some guide, but on its own it can be
misleading. In some particular it ignores the degree of competition
from abroad, and from others areas within the
country. Thus the five largest UK motor car vehicle manufacturers
may have produce 82.9 per cent of UK vehicle output,
but these manufacturers may face much considerable competition
from imported cars and lorries. On the other hand, the
five largest water suppliers may to account for only 49.7
per cent of UK production output, but with their own regions of the
11 country they should have a monopoly.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND THE SMALL FIRM SECTOR
The fact that many small businesses do survive, and some manage to grow, suggests that they must have some edge over their larger rivals. The following have been found to be the key competitive advantages that small firms might hold.
___ (1)
Small firms are more able to respond to changes in market conditions and to meet customer requirements effectively. For example, they may be able to develop or adapt products for specific needs. Small firms may also be able to make decisions quickly, avoiding the bureaucratic and formal decision-making processes that typify many larger companies.
Quality of service. Small firms are more able to deal with customers in a personal manner and offer a more effective after-sales service.
Production efficiency and low overhead costs. Small firms can avoid some of the diseconomies of scale that beset large companies. A small firm can benefit from: management that avoids waste; good labour relations; the employment of a skilled and motivated workforce; lower accommodation costs.
Product development. As we have seen, many small businesses operate in niche markers, offering specialist goods or services. The distinctiveness of such products gives the small firm a crucial advantage over its larger rivals. A successful small business strategy, therefore, would be to produce products that are clearly differentiated from those of large firms in the market, thereby avoiding head-on competition –competition which the small firm would probably not be able to survive.
___ (2)
Small businesses, especially those located in high-technology markets, are frequently product or process innovators. Such businesses, usually through entrepreneurial vision, manage successfully to match such innovations to changing market needs. Many small businesses are, in this respect, path breakers or market leaders.
Small businesses do, however, suffer from a number of significant limitations.
Problems facing small businesses
The following points have been found to hinder the success of small firms.
___ (3)
Small firms face many problems in selling and marketing their products, especially overseas. Small firms are perceived by their customers to be less stable and reliable than their larger rivals. This lack of credibility is likely to hinder their ability to trade. This is a particular problem for “new” small firms which have not had long enough to establish a sound reputation.
Funding R&D. Given the specialist nature of many small firms, their long-run survival may depend upon developing new products and processes in order to keep pace with changing market needs. Such developments may require significant R&D investment. However, the ability of small firms to attract finance is limited, as many of them have virtually no collateral and they are frequently perceived by banks as a highly risky investment.
___ (4)
A crucial element in ensuring that small businesses not only survive but grow is the quality of management. If key management skills, such as being able to market a product effectively, are limited, then this will limit the success of the business.
___ (5)
Small firms will have fewer opportunities and scope to gain economies of scale, and hence their costs are likely to be somewhat higher than their larger rivals. This will obviously limit their ability to compete on price.
I. Match each of these headlines with one of the texts above.
A. Innovation _______________
B. Management skills _______________
C. Flexibility _______________
D. Economies of scale _______________
E. Selling and marketing _______________
II. Look at statements 1-3. In each statement, which phrase or sentence is correct?
1. Small firms must have some edge over their larger rivals.
A. Small firms are far ahead of their large rivals.
B. Small firms have to be better than their large rivals to compete with them.
C. All small firms will soon fail.
. Small firms are perceived by their customers to be less stable and reliable than their larger rivals.
A. Small firms are less reliable than their large rivals.
B. Small firms can’t find their customers.
C. Customers think that small firms are less reliable than their large rivals.
. This lack of credibility is likely to hinder their ability to trade.
A. Customers’faith in small firms is low which limits their sales.
B. Customers of small firms are lucky.
C. Customers will stop small firms from getting credits.
III. Are sentences below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
1. Small firms offer better maintenance support.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. A small firm can benefit from lower prices.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Small firms have less problems selling abroad.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
4. Small firms are unable to get credits in the bank.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
GROWTH THROUGH DIVERSIFICATION
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) There are three principal factors which might encourage a business to diversify.
b) Alternatively, the business might be in a market where demand is stagnant or declining.
c) Such products need not cover similar activities.
d) As a result, control over market share is becoming even more crucial.
e) Diversification therefore enables the business to spread risk.
Diversification is the process whereby a firm shifts from being a single-product to a multiproduct producer. ___ (1) We can in fact identity four directions in which diversification might he undertaken:
Categorising the strategies in this way would suggest that the direction of diversification is largely dependent upon both the nature of technology and the market opportunities open to the firm. But the ability to capitalise on these features depends on the experience, skills and market knowledge of the managers of the business. In general, diversification is likely to occur in areas where the business can use and adapt existing technology and knowledge to its advantage.
The diversification of Amstrad, the personal computer manufacturer, into the mobile telephone market is a good example of where a business’s current technology and market knowledge are being applied to a distinct new product.
Why diversification?
___ (2)
Stability. So long as a business produces a single product in a single market, it is vulnerable to changes in that market’s conditions. If a farmer produces nothing but potatoes, and the potato harvest fails, the farmer is ruined. If however, the farmer produces a whole range of vegetable products, or even diversifies into livestock, then he or she is less subject to the forces of nature and the unpredictability of the market. ___ (3)
Maintaining profitability. Businesses might also be encouraged to diversify if they wish to protect existing profit levels. It may be that the market in which a business is currently located is saturated and that current profitability is perceived to be at a maximum. ___ (4) In such cases the business is likely to see a greater return on its investment by diversifying into new product ranges located in dynamic expanding markets.
Growth. If the current market is saturated, stagnant or in decline, diversification might be the only avenue open to the business if it wishes to maintain a high growth performance. In other words, it is not only the level of profits that may be limited in the current market, but also the growth of sales.
II. The mistakes in the sentences below have been underlined. Correct them.
1. Diversification is the process whereby a firm shifts to being a single-producer.
. Although a business produces a single product in a single market, it depends on that market.
. Diversification enable the business to spread risk.
. Businesses might also have encouraged to spread risk.
. In other words, it is not only the current markets that may be limited in the level of profits, but also the growth of sales.
.
.
.
.
.
THE FIRM AS A LEGAL ENTITY
The legal structure of the firm is likely to have a significant impact on its conduct, and subsequent performance, within the market place. There are several types of firm, each with a distinct legal status.
___ (1)
This is where the business is owned by just one person. Usually such businesses are small, with only a few employees. Retailing, building and farming are typical areas to find sole proprietorships. Such businesses are easy to set up and may require only a relatively small initial capital investment. They may well flourish if the owner is highly committed to the business, and they can be very flexible to changing market conditions. They suffer two main disadvantages, however:
___ (2)
This is where two or more people own the business. In most partnerships there is a legal limit of 20 partners. Partnerships are common in the same fields as sole-proprietorships. They are also common in the professions: solicitors, accountants, surveyors, etc. With more owners, there is more scope for expansion. More finance can be raised and the partners can each specialise in one aspect of the business.
Partners, however, still have unlimited liability. This problem could be very serious. The mistakes of one partner could jeopardise the personal assets of all the other partners.
Where large amounts of capital are required and/or when the risks of business failure are relatively high, partnerships are not an appropriate form of organisation. In such cases it is best to form a company (or “joint-stock company” to give it its full title).
___ (3)
A company is legally separate from its owners. This means that it can enter into contracts and own property. Any debts are its debts, not the owners.
Each owner has a share in the company. The size of their share holdings will vary from one shareholder to another and will depend on the amount they invest. Each shareholder will receive his or her share of the company’s distributed profit. The payments to shareholders are called “dividends”.
The owners have only limited liability. This means that, if the company goes bankrupt, the owners will lose the amount of money they have invested in the company, but no more. Their personal assets cannot be seized. This has the advantage of encouraging people to become shareholders, and indeed large companies may have thousands of shareholders –some with very small holdings and others, including institutional shareholders such as pension funds, with very large holdings. Without the protection of limited liability, many of these investors would never put their money into any company that involved even the slightest risk.
Shareholders often take no part in the running of the firm. They may elect a board of directors which decides broad issues of company policy. The board of directors in turn appoints managers who make the day-to-day decisions. There are two types of companies: public and private.
Public limited companies. Don’t be confused by the title. A public limited company is still a private enterprise: it is not a nationalised industry. It is “public” because it can offer new shares publicly: by issuing a prospectus, it can invite the public to subscribe to a new share issue. In addition, many public limited companies are quoted on the Stock Exchange. This means that existing shareholders can sell some or all of their shares on the Stock Exchange. The prices of these shares will be determined by demand and supply. A public limited company must hold an annual shareholders’meeting.
Private limited companies. Private limited companies cannot offer their shares publicly. Shares have to be sold privately. This makes it more difficult for private limited companies to raise finance, and consequently they tend to be smaller than public companies. They are, however, easier to set up than public companies.
___ (4)
It is common, especially in large civil engineering projects that involve very high risks, for many firms to work together as a consortium. The Channel Tunnel and Thames Barrier are products of this form of business organisation. Within the consortium one firm may act as the managing contractor, while the other members may provide specialist services. Alternatively, management may be more equally shared.
I. Match each of these headlines with one of the texts above.
A. Consortia of firms ________________
B. The sole proprietor ________________
C. The partnership ________________
D. Companies ________________
II. Which text reports on these items?
A. Personal liability for all losses ________________
B. Company’s distributed profit ________________
C. High risk projects ________________
D. Jeopardy of personal assets ________________
III. In most of the lines below there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If there is an extra word in the line, write out the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.
00 Co-operatives. These are of two types.
01 Consumer co-operatives. These, like the old high street Co-ops, are
officially owned by the consumers. Consumers in a fact play no part in
the running of these co-ops. They are run by various professional
the managers.
05 Producer co-operatives. These are firms that are owned by their workers,
who share in the firm’s profit according to some agreed formula. They are
sometimes formed by people in the same trade coming together: in
example, producers of handicraft goods. At an other times they are formed
by workers buying out their factory from the owners; this is most likely if
it is due to close, with a resultant loss of jobs. Producer co-operatives,
although still relatively few in number, have grown in recent years.
IV. Choose the best answer to complete each gap in the text.
Public corporations
These are state-owned enterprises such as the BBC, the Bank of England and nationalised industries.
They have a legal identity separate ___ (1) the government. The corporation is run ___ (2) a board, but the members of the board are ___ (3) by the relevant government minister. The boards have to act within various ___ (4) of reference laid down by Act of Parliament. Profits of public corporations that are not reinvested accrue to the ___ (5). Since 1980 many public corporations have been “privatised”: that is, they have been sold directly to other firms in the ___ (6) sector (such as Austin Rover to British Aerospace) or to the general public through a public issue of shares (such as British Gas).
|
1. a) in |
b) from |
c) away |
d) out of |
|
2. a) with |
b) that |
c) those |
d) by |
|
3. a) appointed |
b) managed |
c) controlled |
d) run |
|
4. a) terms |
b) conditions |
c) items |
d) notes |
|
5. a) Central Bank |
b) Foreign Office |
c) Treasury |
d) Cabinet |
|
6. a) industry |
b) commerce |
c) private |
d) manufacturing |
SHOULD CENTRAL BANK BE INDEPENDENT OF GOVERNMENT?
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) An independent central bank is free from political manipulation.
b) But the Bundesbank was concerned to dampen the inflationary pressures caused by German reunification.
c) The advocates of independence frequently cite the experience of Germany.
d) Technology provides both opportunities and threats to the banking community.
e) But with an independent central bank committed to monetary stability, it may be difficult for the government to achieve such economic policy goals.
In recent years there has been much discussion among both economists and politicians as to whether the Bank of England should be independent. ___ (1). The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, is fiercely independent, and is credited with being instrumental in Germany’s economic success. The Bundesbank’s philosophy is simple: Monetary and price stability are of overriding importance in the pursuit of growth. Inflation should be tightly controlled at all times.
The arguments in favour of an independent central bank are strong.
– ___ (2) It can devote itself to attaining long-run economic goals, rather than to helping politicians achieve short-run success in time for the next election.
– Independence may strengthen the credibility of monetary policy. This may then play an important part in shaping expectations: workers may put in moderate wage demands and businesses may be more willing to invest.
– An independent central bank has a clear legal status and set of responsibilities. It is the “protector of the currency” and as such it is not subordinate to government. This is important given the political nature of economic policy making in both a domestic and an international context. The Bundesbank’s policy concerning the ERM (European Monetary System) is a good example. In 1992, international pressure mounted on Germany to cut interest rates as other ERM members faced a deeping recession. ___ (3). It stuck firmly to its statutory obligations and refused to cut interest rates, except when the domestic economy allowed.
The statistics show that the greater the independence of a country’s central bank, the lower and more stable is its rate of inflation. If this is the goal of economic policy, it seems that more rather than less independence is desirable.
One of the major arguments against having an independent central bank is that it makes it more difficult to integrate monetary management into wider economic objectives. On some occasions it may be desirable to accept a higher rate of inflation –if this were the consequence of a growth stimulus aimed at reducing unemployment. ___ (4).
II. Are sentences below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
. Monetary policy does not influence the economic growth.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. The trustworthiness of monetary policy often depends on the level of independence of a central bank.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Monetarists believe that controlling money is the only essential function of governments.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. An independent bank should have a clearly set of objectives defined by the government.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. There might be situations when a sustained rise in the average prices of goods could lead to reduced unemployment.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. It should be noted that central banks ordinarily do not provide commercial banking services for the general public.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
III. The mistakes in the sentences below have been underlined. Write the corrections in the spaces provided.
. To achieve such goals may be difficult with a central bank committing to monetary stability.
. In the early 1990s international pressure has mounted on the
country.
. Recently it has been much discussion of this issue.
. The Bundesbank is crediting with being helpful in Germany’s
success.
. The greater the independence of a country’s central bank, lower and more stable is the rate of inflation.
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
ARE THE DAYS OF CASH NUMBERED?
EFTPOS versus ATMs
I. Read the text. Some parts of the texts have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) But under some circumstances cheques are more efficient than cash.
b) Subsequently your account will be automatically debited and the retailer’s account automatically credited.
c) So are we using more cash or less cash?
d) So are we moving towards a cashless society? Probably not.
e) This is where you pay for goods in the shops by means of a card –either a credit card (like Access or Visa) or a debit card (like Switch or Connect).
f) Banking is becoming increasingly automated, with computer debiting and crediting of accounts replacing the moving around of pieces of paper.
___ (1) What was once done by a bank clerk is often now done by computer.
One possible outcome of this replacement of labour by computers is the gradual elimination of cash from the economy –or so some commentators have claimed.
The most dramatic example of computerisation in recent years has been EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer at the point of sale). ___ (2) The card is simply “swiped” across a machine at the till which may then require you to enter your PIN (personal identification number). The details of the transaction (the amount, the retailer and your card number) are then transmitted down the line to the EFTPOS UK processing centre. If necessary, the information is then directed down the line to the card issuer for authorisation. If the card is valid and the transaction acceptable, then within seconds the machine will issue a slip for you to sign and the purchase is complete. ___ (3)
The advantage of this system is that it does away with the processing by hand of pieces of paper. In particular it does away with the need for (a) credit-card slips when used in conjunction with credit cards and (b) cheques. Both cheques and credit-card slips have to be physically moved around and then read and processed by people. If this EFTPOS system were to become widely used for small transactions, it could well reduce the need for cash. But reducing the need for cash is not the prime purpose of EFTPOS. Its prime purpose is to do away with cheques and credit-card slips.
____ (4) Cash is still the simplest and most efficient way of paying for a host of items, from your bus ticket to a newspaper to a packet of mints. What is more, another technical innovation is moving us in the direction of using more cash, not less! This is the cash machine –or ATM (automated teller machine), to give it its official title.
____ (5) The evidence suggests a gradual decline in cash in circulation as a proportion of GDP. It fell from just over 5 per cent of GDP in 1980 to just over 2% per cent in 1997.
But although the effects of EFTPOS and ATMs may be quite different in terms of the use of cash, they both have the same advantage to banks: they reduce the need for bank staff and thereby reduce costs.
II. Look at statements 1-4. In each statement, which phrase or sentence is correct?
1. One possible outcome of the replacement of labour by computers is the gradual elimination of cash from the economy –or so some commentators have claimed.
A. It is suggested that cash should be removed from the economy.
B. It is supposed that computers will deal with cash rather than people.
C. It is stated that the economy might get rid of cash as a result of computerisation.
. If necessary, the information is then directed down the line to the card issuer for authorisation.
A. If there is a need the card issuer is addressed for user identification.
B. If necessary, local authorities are addressed to confirm the information.
C. Every time the card is used, it should be checked by the card issuer.
. The advantage of this system is that it does away with the processing by hand of pieces of paper.
A. The system has stopped the processing by hand of pieces of paper and this is its advantage.
B. There is not much paperwork with the introduction of the system.
C. The system has the advantage of completing manual processing of pieces of paper.
. If this EFTPOS system were to become widely used for small transactions, it could well reduce the need for cash.
A. The application of the EFTPOS system to a greater number of small transactions is likely to reduce the need for cash.
B. Cash will no longer exist, if the EFTPOS system is used for small transactions.
C. Making small transactions people would avoid using cash if the EFTPOS system were introduced.
III. Choose the best answer to complete each gap in the text.
The ___ (1) of cash machines to virtually ___ (2) bank and building society branch and to many larger stores has been ___ (3) in recent years. The sheer simplicity of ___ (4) cash at all hours from these machines, not only from your ___ (5) account but also on your credit card, is obviously a huge encouragement to the use of cash.
|
1. a) use |
b) development |
c) spread |
d) set-up |
|
2. a) each |
b) every |
c) either |
d) all |
|
3. a) intermediate |
b) rapid |
c) instantaneous |
d) temporary |
|
4. a) achieving |
b) reaching |
c) accepting |
d) obtaining |
|
5. a) current |
b) every day |
c) daily |
d) flow |
IV. Are sentences below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”’.
1. In practice people use a cheque when they want to give a direction to a bank to pay money on demand to a named person or organization.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Every time you pay by means of a card you should enter your PIN.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Though there are several purposes of the EFTPOS system, the main one is elimination of cheques and credit-card slips.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Cash still is used to pay for various items and its use has even grown.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Both EFTPOS and ATMs despite their differences might make the activity of banks more economical.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
REGULATION US-STYLE
In the USA, utilities such as electricity, gas, water and telecommunications have for the most part always been private companies (although a few are state owned). To prevent the abuse of monopoly power, the utilities are regulated by federal or state governments through regulatory commissions. Unlike in the UK, where prices are regulated according to an “RPI minus X” formula, the prime focus of US regulation is the company’s “rate of return” (i.e. its rate of profit).
The system involves limiting prices to a level which will give a normal rate of profit. In other words, the company will be allowed to charge a price equal to the average cost of production, where average cost includes a “fair rate of return on capital”. The actual calculations are normally done using total revenue and total cost according to the following formula: TR = TVC + K, where TR is the maximum permitted total revenue for that year (known as the “revenue requirement”), TVC is total variable costs (known as “operating expenses”), K is the total replacement cost of capital (known as the “rate base”) and is the permitted annual rate of return, as a percentage of the rate base.
To give an example: if a firm’s variable costs (TVC) were $4 million, the rate base (K) were $20 million and a normal rate of return () were judged by the regulatory commission to be 10 per cent, then according to the formula, the firm would be permitted to charge a price that would yield a revenue requirement (TR) of:
$4m + 0.1($20m) = $6m.
There has been growing concern in the USA over the effects of using rate-of-return regulation. The argument is that it encourages inefficiency.
First there is the problem of allocative inefficiency. The US system will entail the company setting a price equal to long-run average cost. The socially efficient position, however, is where price equals long-run marginal cost.
Then there is the potentially more serious problem of productive or technical inefficiency (not using factors in the way that maximises output) and X inefficiency (lack of motivation to cut wasteful expenditure and to introduce cost-cutting measures). What is the incentive for a regulated firm to produce at a lower cost? If it introduces new technology or improved working practices that have the effect of increasing profit, the regulator will insist on a lower revenue requirement and hence a lower price. The extra profit will simply be taken away.
In fact, there is an incentive for the firms to let costs rise. The costs of higher salaries and more luxurious offices, for example, can simply be passed on to the consumer in higher prices!
With unregulated monopolies, at least there is pressure from shareholders for the firms to be efficient. There is also competition on the market for corporate control: managers are afraid that if their firm is inefficient, other firms may mount a takeover bid. With the regulated utilities in the USA, however, these pressures are absent. Shareholders have nothing to gain from increased efficiency if profits are not allowed to increase as a result. Also there is no benefit to other firms in mounting a takeover bid. If they were successful, they would merely find themselves the subject of regulation.
Then there is the problem of regulatory lag. In periods of rapidly rising costs, it may take some time before the regulatory commission sanctions a price increase (through a higher revenue requirement). In the meantime the firm may be forced to operate at a loss.
I. For each question 1-5, mark one for the answer you choose.
. Utilities in the USA are regulated in order to
A. improve their efficiency.
B. raise their profits.
C. restrict monopoly power.
. Rate-of-return regulation suggests that
A. companies are likely to be in a socially efficient position.
B. resources are used in the way that maximizes output.
C. there is no incentive for companies to cut expenditure.
. If a regulated company introduced advanced technology or better working practices,
A. its profit would go up.
B. it would make no extra profit.
C. the revenue requirement would be higher.
. The regulated utilities in the USA
A. are under pressure from shareholders.
B. are not exposed to competitive pressures.
C. are often taken over by other firms.
. The regulatory lag leads to
A. delays in setting higher prices.
B. rapidly rising costs.
C. an increase in the revenue requirement.
II. Are sentence below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
1. State owned utilities in the USA are regulated.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
2. Rate-of-return regulation induces companies to set a price equal to long-run marginal cost.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
3. Regulated companies are not encouraged to maximise output.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
4. Competition in the market for corporate control has increased.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
5. Firms may have to operate at a loss due to bureaucratic intervention.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
III. Find the mistakes in the sentences below and write the corrections in the spaces provided:
1. Most of the utilities in the USA had been private companies.
. The actual calculations are usually used total revenue and total cost.
. There has been growing concern in the USA on the effects of rate-of-return regulation.
. If a company will pay higher salaries, its costs can simply be passed on to the consumer.
. The firm may be forced to operate for a loss.
. ___________________________________________
. ___________________________________________
. ___________________________________________
. ___________________________________________
. ___________________________________________
THE POLITICAL BUSINESS CYCLE
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) It is less easy in countries like the USA where elections are at fixed times.
b) That would not help the government’s election prospects.
c) Inflation takes a time to build up.
d) This is a reduction in frictional unemployment.
e) This “window of opportunity” for the government is in the middle of phase 2 –the period of rapid expansion.
f) It can then claim to the electorate that its economic policies have been a success.
g) A recession is likely to follow.
Any governments standing for re-election would like the economy to look as healthy as possible. ___ (1)
Governments are able to engineer booms and recessions by the use of demand-side policies (fiscal and monetary). For example, by cutting taxes and/or increasing government expenditure, and by cutting interest rates, they can generate a period of economic expansion.
But how is this of any use politically, if the improvement in two of the objectives is at the cost of a deterioration in the other two? ___ (2)
The answer is that there is one point in the business cycle where all four objectives are likely to be looking good. ___ (3) At this point, growth is at its highest and unemployment is falling most rapidly. In fact, falling unemployment is probably more popular with the electorate than simply a low level of unemployment. Three million unemployed but falling will win more votes than one million and rising rapidly!
But what about the other two objectives? Surely, in the middle of phase 2, inflation and the balance of payments will be deteriorating? The answer is that they will probably not yet have become a serious problem. ___ (4) It will probably only really start to rise rapidly as the peak of the business cycle is approached and shortages and bottlenecks occur. As far as the balance of payments is concerned, this tends only to become a serious political issue when the current account deficit gets really severe, or if the exchange rate starts to plummet. In the middle of phase 2, it is unlikely that this stage will yet have been reached.
By careful economic management, then, the government can get the four objectives to look good at the time of the election. Of course, economic management is not perfect and policies may take longer (or shorter) to work than the government had anticipated. Things are made easier for governments in countries like the UK, however, where the government can choose when to call an election. ___ (5)
Once a government has won an election it can then deflate an economy in order to remove inflationary pressures and improve the balance of payments. ___ (6) This will probably be highly unpopular with the electorate. But no matter: the government, having created sufficient slack in the economy, can then reflate the economy again in time for the next general election!
It is thus possible to observe a political business cycle. Recessions follow elections. Rapid growth precedes elections.
II. For each question 1-4, mark one for the answer you choose.
. The period of economic expansion is characterized by
A. a high level of unemployment.
B. increased government expenditure.
C. shortages and bottlenecks.
2. Governments are able to engineer booms and recessions by
A. raising taxes.
B. decreasing government expenditure.
C. cutting interest rates.
. The balance of payments will not probably become a serious problem if
A. the current account deficit gets severe.
B. the exchange rate starts to plummet.
C. it is improved by the government.
. In the middle of phase 2 inflation will be deteriorating because
A. there are no bottlenecks.
B. the peak of the business cycle is approached.
C. shortages do not occur.
III. There is one mistake in each of the following sentences (either an underlined word or a phrase); you are to find it.
. As far as unemployment concerned, it is rapidly falling.
a b c
2. In the middle of the phase 2, inflation and the balance of payments will be deteriorating.
a b c
. By careful economic management the government can get the economy to look as healthy as possibly.
a b c
. In the USA the government cannot choose when to call an elections.
a b c
5. Once a government has won an election it can then deflate an economy, thus a recession will likely to follow.
a b c
6. A political business cycle include recessions following elections and rapid growth preceding elections.
a b c
MANAGERS AND OWNERS:
High Salaries and Corporate Goals
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) If the share value goes above this level, the manager makes the difference.
b) Increasingly there has been greater reliance on payouts of shares and share “options”, rather than on salaries and short-term bonuses.
c) But in doing this, they will fail to embark on projects which could potentially be very profitable (albeit risky) and thereby fail to add value to investors’shares.
d) Share option schemes are becoming less popular.
e) High rewards are likely to motivate not only top executives, but also those below them.
In 1995, Jack Welch, chief executive of General Electric, the American conglomerate, received earnings of $22 million, making him the highest-paid chief executive in the USA.
The high pay awards given to many top managers in both the USA and the UK has, in recent years, met with a storm of protest. Many have argued that such pay awards have been excessive, especially when many of the companies they work for have been cutting their workforce in a process of “rationalization” and workers’pay has been capped or has risen only slowly.
How can such high pay awards to top executives be justified? The two main arguments put forward to justify such generosity are as follows:
In addition to using high salaries to motivate managers, shareholders, who ultimately determine the pay of top executives, have been keen to modify the manner in which top executives receive their rewards, in order to provide additional incentives. ___ (2) The justification for such a move is that giving rewards in the form of shares links an environment, a rational “reward-maximising” manager will always be seeking to enhance share value, and this will be linked to the company’s success. As such, the need for monitoring managerial activity diminishes.
The drawback of simply giving shares (as opposed to share options) to top managers concerns how they might respond to risk. They might be “risk averse” and seek to protect the value of their shares, preferring to avoid risky ventures that might jeopardize profits and cause share prices to fall. ___ (3) Because of this, the giving of share options to top managers has become more prevalent.
Share options give top managers the right to buy shares at a set price. ___ (4) If the share price falls below this level, the manager can exercise the option not to buy. In such circumstances, top managers are shielded from the risks of failure, but encouraged to do as well as possible.
It was estimated that, in the UK in 1994, the directors and senior executives of PowerGen and National Power had share options valued at £23 million. The chief executive of PowerGen alone made a profit of £1.2 million by exercising his option to buy the shares.
II. Complete the following table:
A. The giving of share options to top managers allows them
B. In order to provide additional incentives shareholders
C. High rewards are likely to motivate managers in the middle of the business hierarchy because
III. The mistakes in the sentences below have been underlined. Write the corrections in the spaces provided.
1. Many argue that such a pay awards have been excessive.
. If the share value will go above this level, the manager makes difference.
. Failure to offer high rewards may encourage the top executives within an industry moving elsewhere.
. The justification for such a move is what giving rewards in the form of shares link the interests of managers, owners and investors.
1. _________________________________________________
. _________________________________________________
. _________________________________________________
. _________________________________________________
INEQUALITY AND POVERTY
I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) The definition is based on judgments, made by each particular society, as to what is considered a reasonable and acceptable standard of living, according to the conventions of the day.
b) Poverty as a social phenomenon should be eliminated.
c) A truly socialist society would be a much more equal society.
d) Nevertheless economists do have a major role to play in the analysis of inequality.
e) This may mean that some people are poor, and most on the right argue in favour of government measures to alleviate poverty.
Inequality is one of the most contentious issues in the world of economics and politics.
The political right argues that a certain amount of inequality and poverty is the inevitable price paid for an efficient, growing economy. People need the incentives of high incomes to encourage them to work, train, invest and take risks. ___ (1) Nevertheless they worry that any significant redistribution from rich to poor may seriously reduce growth and efficiency by undermining incentives. People on the right also argue from a moral standpoint that the freedom to own property and to pass it on to children, and the freedom to keep the bulk of the income from that property, are fundamental rights.
The left, not surprisingly, disagrees. A fundamental tenet of socialism is that the distribution of income should be based on need, rather than on private property ownership and the workings of the market. ___ (2) Most socialists nevertheless do accept that there will have to be incentives for an economy to function, and that therefore there will have to be some minimum level of inequality.
Whether the current distribution of income is desirable or not is a normative question. Economists therefore cannot settle the debate between left and right over how much the government should redistribute incomes from rich to poor. ___ (3) They can do the following:
In attempting to solve a social problem such as poverty, it is normal for the policy-making body to adopt the following four-stage approach:
The importance of defining the problem of poverty correctly is that it determines the subsequent stages: the number of poor, possible causes of poverty and ways of tackling the problem.
There are two ways of looking at poverty.
Absolute poverty (or subsistence poverty).
As its name suggests, this definition involves identifying a poverty line measured in terms of those basic items considered essential to life: items such as adequate clothing, food and shelter.
By defining poverty in absolute terms, it is assumed that all individuals have similar minimum requirements, and that those whose means fall below the required minimum are poor.
Attempts have been made to include minimum social/cultural needs in such definitions: for example, adequate leisure and recreation, education and security.
Relative poverty
___ (4) Hence an individual who is unable to attain this reasonable and acceptable standard is considered poor. For example, if fridges, TVs and videos are considered part of “civilised existence”, then without them you are considered poor! The standard of living considered to be acceptable by society will differ over time, and from one society to another.
II. Are sentences below “Right” or “Wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer, choose “Doesn’t say”.
1. The political right is sure that a certain amount of inequality and poverty is the inevitable price paid for an efficient growing economy.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Economists have a major role to play in the analysis of inequality.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
. Relative poverty is a far more stable concept.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
III. The mistakes in the sentences below have been underlined. Write the corrections in the spaces provided.
1. Economists therefore cannot to settle the debate between left and right.
. The standard of living considered be acceptable of society will differ over time.
. Inequality is one of most contentious issues in world of economics and politics.
. Hence an individual what is unable to attain this reasonable and acceptable standard is considering poor.
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
. _____________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________
TECHNOLOGY AND EMPLOYMENT
Does Technological Progress Create or Destroy Jobs?
1. Does technological progress destroy jobs? The obvious answer may seem to be yes. After all, new technology often involves machines taking over jobs that were previously done by people.
2. There is another view, however. This argues that a failure to introduce new technology and ultimately to remain competitive will offer an even worse long-term employment problem. Markets, and hence employment, will be lost to more efficient competitors.
. The relative merits of each of these views are difficult to assess, since they depend greatly upon the type of technology, its organisation in the workplace and the market within which it is located. The diagram isolates four stages in the effects of new technology on jobs.
(3) Servicing
(4) Market expansion
Four effects of new technology on employment
Source: A. Rajan and G. Cooke. “The impact of IT on employment”. (National Westminster Bank Quarterly Review. August 1986).
Stage (1) Design and installation
Here labour requirements grow as first designers and then construction workers are employed. As construction/installation is completed, employment from this source will then disappear.
Stage (2) Implementation
Here labour requirements decline, especially if the technology is concerned with improving existing processes rather than creating new products.
Stage (3) Servicing
Maintenance and repair may have positive employment effects. This may gradually decrease over time as “teething troubles” are eliminated, or it may increase as the stock of initially new machines begins to grow older.
Stage (4) Market expansion
This represents the long-term impact of technology on employment levels as the improved and/or cheaper products lead to more sales.
4. The optimistic view holds that, historically, technology has generated more jobs than it has destroyed. Total employment today is much higher than a hundred years ago, and yet technological progress has allowed many goods and services to be produced with far fewer workers. What has happened is that increased output has more than compensated for the growth in labour productivity. There is no reason, say the optimists, why this process should not continue.
. The pessimists, however, are less certain about the potential employment benefits of new technology. Even in growth industries, such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, optical technology and high-value plastics, there has been a decline in employment. Except in a few parts of the world where a rapid growth in exports has allowed a huge expansion of output (e.g. certain south-east Asian countries), output growth in high-tech industries has not kept pace withthe growth in labour productivity.
I. Which part of the text reports on these items?
A. The outcome of new technology is risky.
B. The negative influence of technological race on employment.
C. Technological changes improve the potential employment benefits.
D. Technology failure and the nature of employment.
E. How are new technology and jobs shaping their dependence?
II. Choose the best answer to complete each gap in the text.
The impact of technology not only on the ___ (1) of business, but on the economy in general is ___ (2) illustrated by the development and use of the Internet. By 1997, ___ (3) some 40 million people and 25 000 firms used the Internet, and this figure was rising ___ (4) over 10 per cent per month. The commercial possibilities of the Internet ___ (5) from the selling of information and services, to global forms of catalogue shopping where you can ___ (6) through a business’s product range (or surf the net) and use your credit card number to pay. The Internet is just one example of how technology and technological change are ___ (7) the whole structure and organisation of business, the ___ (8) of work for the worker, and the ___ (9) of business and hence the competitive ___ (10) of national economies.
|
1. a) practise . a) brightly |
b) need b) vividly |
c) necessity c) probably |
d) practice d) evidently |
|
3. a) worldly |
b) everywhere |
c) elsewhere |
d) worldwide |
|
4. a) by |
b) to |
c) for |
d) on |
|
5. a) change |
b) fluctuation |
c) range |
d) drive |
|
6. a) examine |
b) see |
c) follow |
d) browse |
|
7. a) drawing |
b) finding |
c) becoming |
d) shaping |
|
8. a) experiment |
b) nature |
c) experience |
d) ideas |
|
9. a) product |
b) productivity |
c) production |
d) productiveness |
|
10. a) performance |
b) work |
c) acting |
d) action |
III. In most of the lines below there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If there is an extra word in the line, write out the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.
01 Can workers who are displaced from high-tech
industries not as simply find jobs in other parts of the
economy? There are two problems over here. The first is
that of a structural unemployment. Displaced workers
may not have the skills to take up its work elsewhere.
Clearly up what is needed is a system of retraining that
enables only workers to move to alternative jobs. The
second is that of income distribution. If the only
alternative jobs are more relatively low-skilled ones in the
service sector (cleaners, porters, shelf packers,
checkout assistants, etc.), the displaced workers may
have to accept for a considerable cut in wages.
DO PEOPLE VOLUNTEER TO BE UNEMPLOYED
The distinction between voluntary and involuntary unemployment
I. Read the text. Some parts of the texts have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.
a) “Voluntary” unemployment tends to imply that the blame for unemployment lies with the unemployed person and not with “market forces” or with inadequate government policies.
b) Workers want to work at the current wage, but there are not enough jobs available.
c) It occurs when the demand for certain types of labour fluctuates with the seasons of the year.
d) Workers can hardly be said to have volunteered for these changes in demand.
e) According to these economists, then, only demand-deficient unemployment would be classed as involuntary.
A distinction made by some economists is that between voluntary and involuntary unemployment. Many economists would regard equilibrium unemployment as voluntary. If people choose not to accept a job at the going wage, even though there are jobs available, then in a sense they could be said to have voluntarily chosen to be unemployed. Disequilibrium unemployment, according to these economists, would be classed as involuntary. ___ (1)
Some economists would also include classical unemployment as voluntary. If people, through their unions, have chosen to demand a higher wage than the equilibrium wage, then they could be said to have collectively “volunteered” to make themselves unemployed. ___ (2)
Some economists go even further and argue that all unemployment should be classed as voluntary. If the cause of disequilibrium unemployment is a downward stickiness in real wage rates, then workers, either individually or collectively, are choosing not to accept work at a lower wage.
Other economists would go to the other extreme and claim that all disequilibrium unemployment and most equilibrium unemployment is involuntary. Structural unemployment, for example, results from changes in demand and/or supply patterns in the economy and a resulting mismatching of unemployed workers’skills to the person specifications of vacant jobs. ___ (3) True, people can be retrained, but retraining takes time, and in the meantime they will be unemployed. Similarly with frictional unemployment, if the cause of some people being unemployed is initial ignorance of job opportunities and hence the time it takes to search for a job, they cannot be said to have volunteered to be initially poorly informed.
The terms “voluntary” and “involuntary” unemployment are not only ambiguous, they are also unfortunate because they have strong normative overtones. ___ (4) While in one sense, at a low enough wage rate there would probably be a job for virtually any unemployed person, the unemployed cannot be said to be voluntarily unemployed if they are choosing to turn down jobs at pitifully low wages.
Although the concepts of voluntary and involuntary unemployment are commonly used, for the above reasons we shall avoid them.
II. For each question 1-4, mark one for the answer you choose.
1. According to some economists involuntary unemployment takes place when workers
A. choose to work at the equilibrium wage but can’t find a job.
B. can’t accept work at the current wage.
C. are encouraged by their unions to resign because of low wage.
. One of the extreme viewpoints on unemployment is that
A. any unemployment can be classified voluntary and involuntary at the same time.
B. all unemployment can be considered as involuntary.
C. in cases workers make their own decisions if to accept work or not.
. Some economists claim that
A. changes in demand can lead to involuntary unemployment.
B. retraining of people cause voluntary unemployment.
C. if people are initially poorly informed of job opportunities and become unemployed, they are sure to have done it voluntarily.
. It is stated that the difference between “voluntary” and “involuntary” unemployment
A. is subtle.
B. is obvious.
C. is senseless.
III. Choose the best answer to complete each gap in the text.
Structural unemployment is ___ (1) the structure of the economy changes. Employment in some industries may ___ (2) while in others it contracts. There are two main reasons ___ (3) this.
A change in the pattern of demand. Some industries ___ (4) declining demand. This may be ___ (5) to a change in consumer tastes. Certain goods may go ___ (6) fashion. Or it may ___ (7) competition from other industries. For example, consumer demand may ___ (8) from coal and to other fuels.
A change in the methods of production. New techniques of production often allow the ___ (9) level of output to be produced with fewer workers. Unless output expands sufficiently to absorb the surplus labour, people will be ___ (10) redundant.
|
1. a) there |
b) what |
c) where |
d) how |
|
2. a) expand |
b) extend |
c) decrease |
d) reduce |
|
3. a) for |
b) of |
c) to |
d) in |
|
4 a) practice |
b) undertake |
c) take up |
d) experience |
|
5. a) thank |
b) through |
c) due |
d) because |
|
6. a) out of |
b) away from |
c) out from |
d) of |
|
7. a) result in |
b) be caused by |
c) be called by |
d) be result from |
|
8. a) be carried |
b) shift away |
c) be turned down |
d) reject away |
|
9. a) similar |
b) compatibl |
c) equal |
d) same |
|
10. a) done |
b) held |
c) dismissed |
d) made |
IV. In most of the lines below there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If there is an extra word in the line, write out the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.
01. There are two broad approaches to the tackling structural unemployment:
02. market-orientated or interventionist.
03. The first one involves encouraging people to look more active for jobs,
if necessary in
04. the other parts of the country, involves encouraging people to adopt
05. a more willing attitude on retraining, and if necessary
. to accept some reduction in wages.
07. An interventionist approach involves direct government action to match jobs
to the unemployed.
08. Two examples are providing grants to firms to set back in areas
. of high unemployment (regional policy),
. and government-funded trained schemes.
Part IV. Fundamentals of Translation
Порядок слов простого повествовательного предложения.
Члены предложения
Приступая к чтению и переводу литературы по специальности на английском языке, следует помнить о том, что связи между словами в английском предложении осуществляются не путем изменения формы самих слов (падежных и личных окончаний, как в русском), а с помощью служебных слов, таких как предлоги, вспомогательные глаголы, артикли. Каждое слово в английском предложении несет в себе грамматическую или лексическую информацию.
В отличие от русского предложения (со свободным порядком слов) английское имеет фиксированный (твердый) порядок слов.
Обязательными членами в английском предложении являются подлежащее и сказуемое, поэтому при переводе следует в первую очередь найти сказуемое и подлежащее, а затем остальные члены предложения.
Найти сказуемое достаточно просто, даже если вы не знаете значения ни одного слова в предложении, которое вам нужно перевести. Сказуемое просто определить по наличию окончания или по словам-сигналам, которые его сопровождают.
Внешними признаками английского сказуемого являются:
|
in determining the allocation of resources. |
Возможность получения прибыли играет важную роль при размещении ресурсов. |
|
The classical economists regarded money as no more than a medium of exchange. |
Экономисты-классики рассматривали деньги всего лишь как средство обмена. |
Sales are not increasing at the
moment.
|
Продажи сейчас не увеличиваются. |
|
|
(часть сказуемого в Present Continuous) |
|
|
In many countries economic development has led to periods of rapid population growth. |
Во многих странах рост экономики привел к быстрому росту населения. |
|
(Часть сказуемого в Present Perfect) |
|
|
Changes in the rate of interest had a great effect on share prices. |
Изменения в процентной ставке существенно повлияли на стоимость акций. |
|
(Самостоятельное сказуемое) |
|
|
We had to replace this piece of equipment. |
Мы были вынуждены заменить эту часть оборудования. |
|
(Часть модального сказуемого) |
When population is growing fast
the proportion of the people of
the younger age will be increasing.
|
Когда население быстро увеличивается, в нем увеличивается пропорциональное соотношение людей молодого возраста. |
|
|
(Часть сказуемого в Future Simple) |
|
All shareholders must receive an invitation to the meeting. |
Все акционеры должны получить приглашение на собрание. |
|
(Часть модального сказуемого) |
Подлежащее в английском предложении обычно расположено слева от сказуемого (перед сказуемым). Иногда отмечают, что с подлежащего начинается предложение, однако это не всегда так, поскольку перед подлежащим может находиться один из второстепенных членов предложения, что обусловлено «привязанностью» предложения в тексте к предыдущему предложению. Во всяком случае, следует помнить, что перед подлежащим никогда не может стоять предлог.
|
An increase in price usually means that the production will become more profitable. |
Повышение цен обычно означает увеличение прибыли. |
|
(An increase –подлежащее данного предложения). |
Дополнение зависит от сказуемого. В английском предложении оно обычно находится справа от сказуемого, непосредственно после него. Чаще всего оно выражается именем существительным или местоимением, но может выражаться и ing-формой глагола. Дополнение может иметь перед собой предлог. На русский язык всегда переводится одним из косвенных падежей.
|
Competition between firms will lead to the elimination of noncompetitive ones |
Конкуренция между фирмами приведет к уменьшению числа неконкурентоспособных. |
|
(Дополнение the elimination выражено существительным с предлогом и переводится на русский существительным в дательном падеже). |
Определение выражает собой признак предмета, т.е. подлежащего или дополнения. При наличии определений мы имеем дело уже не просто с подлежащим или дополнением, а с группой подлежащего и/или с группой дополнения. При этом нужно иметь в виду различие между определением и определителем. В отличие от определения определитель не выражает качественного признака предмета и является служебным словом. Это прежде всего –формальный признак существительного. Наиболее характерными определителями являются артикли, числительные, притяжательные и указательные местоимения. Способы выражения определения весьма разнообразны. Для большего удобства все определения могут быть разделены, в соответствии с занимаемой ими позицией, на две группы –левые и правые определения, то есть стоящие соответственно перед определяемым словом и после него.
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Last year the results were not pleasing |
В прошлом году результаты были неутешительны. |
|
(Last –определение, относящееся к подлежащему year). |
Обстоятельство выражает признак признака, а не предмета (в отличие от определения). Следовательно, как член предложения обстоятельство может относиться либо к сказуемому (чаще всего), либо к определению. Выражается обстоятельство обычно наречием или существительным с предлогом.
|
This can be easily done. |
Это можно легко осуществить. |
|
This method is very difficult. |
Этот метод очень трудоемкий. |
|
In his report he presented a new way of this problem solving. |
В своем докладе он представил новый путь решения этой проблемы. |
Кроме того, в качестве обстоятельства могут выступать инфинитив и герундий. В отличие от других членов предложения, обстоятельство –в некоторых случаях подвижный член предложения. Если оно выражено существительным с предлогом, оно может перемещаться из начала предложения в конец и наоборот.
Видо-временная система английского глагола представлена тремя группами времен: Simple –Continuous –Perfect. Иногда в отдельную группу выделяют Perfect continuous.
Важно отметить, какое основное действие выражает глагол в каждой группе времен и чем будет характеризоваться перевод глагола в каждой группе на русский язык.
В группе Simple глагол выражает обычное, повторяющееся действие:
They appraise their employees
once a year.
|
Раз в год они оценивают деятельность своих работников. |
В группе Continuous –длительное действие, действие как процесс. Переводиться глагол будет на русский язык глаголом несовершенного вида (то есть будет отвечать на вопрос: что делать?):
Economic conditions are changing
all the time.
|
Экономические условия постоянно изменяются. |
В группе Perfect глагол выражает законченное действие к определенному моменту в настоящем, прошедшем или будущем. Соответственно на русский язык глагол будет переводиться глаголом совершенного вида (что сделать?):
Turnover has increased by 5%
this year.
|
В этом году оборот возрос на %. |
Многозначность глаголов to be, to have.
Данный вопрос интересует нас, поскольку эти глаголы участвуют в образовании многих времен, а также в образовании страдательного залога. Они имеют следующие функции:
1. могут выступать в качестве смысловых глаголов и, соответственно, являться самостоятельными сказуемыми в предложении;
. могут выступать в качестве вспомогательных глаголов при образовании времен группы Perfect (to have) и Continuous (to be), а также в качестве вспомогательного глагола при образовании страдательного залога выступает глагол to be.
. могут являться заменителями модального глагола must в соответствующих случаях (смотри примеры в признаках сказуемого).
Занятие 1
Случаи отступления от прямого порядка слов
в английском предложении
(инверсии, усилительные конструкции)
Существует несколько случаев отступления от прямого порядка слов, которое вызывается разными причинами, например:
– необходимостью образования вопросительной формы,
– необходимостью особо выделить (усилить) тот или иной член предложения,
– необходимостью улучшить ритм предложения.
Для перевода актуальны два последних случая.
В английских предложениях смысловая насыщенность ослабляется к концу предложения. Поэтому выделяемое слово, если это не нарушает грамматических связей между словами, выносится обычно в начало предложения:
This mistake we observed in this
article.
|
Именно эту ошибку мы наблюдали во всех его статьях. |
В этом примере дополнение this mistake, которое согласно твердому порядку слов должно стоять после сказуемого, для смыслового выделения вынесено вперед, что дает нам право при переводе добавить усиливающее слово именно.
Отсутствие падежных и личных окончаний, в отличие от русского языка, делает перестановку слов в английском предложении ограниченным. Поэтому для смыслового выделения разных членов предложения, кроме метода простой перестановки слов в предложении (инверсия), используется также метод добавления дополнительных служебных слов (усилительная конструкция it is… that, усилительный do). Остановимся на каждом из способов более подробно:
1. Инверсия –это нарушения прямого порядка слов без внесения дополнительных элементов. Инверсия может быть простой и двойной.
а) при простой инверсии сказуемое (иногда дополнение) выносится в положение перед подлежащим. При переводе порядок слов английского предложения следует сохранять (и иногда использовать усиливающее слово).
In the article was a new example.
|
В статье приводился новый пример. |
Подобная инверсия с введением дополнительного элемента there наблюдается в предложениях с оборотом there to be.
б) при двойной инверсии
Important for this method is
decision-making strategy
|
Для этого метода важным (фактором) является стратегия принятия решения. |
2. Усилительно-выделительная конструкция it is… that (помимо that могут использоваться which, who, when).
В этом случае для выделения любого члена предложения, кроме сказуемого, используются дополнительные элементы it is и that, которые как бы обрамляют выделяемое слово (ее иногда называют «рамочной» конструкцией). Первый ее элемент –it is –стоит в начале предложения, а второй –that, who, which –может находиться далеко от первого, что затрудняет обнаружение конструкции. Конструкцию (все три служебных слова) заменяют словами типа именно, только, это, как раз и продолжают перевод, сохраняя порядок слов английского предложения.
It is this last category that is of
interest to us.
|
Именно эта последняя категория представляет для нас интерес. |
|
|
It was not until 1970 that he published. |
И только в 1970 он опубликовал свою книгу. |
3. Усилительный глагол do.
Служебное слово –глагол do –используется в утвердительном предложении для усиления значения сказуемого. В этом случае do стоит непосредственно перед смысловым глаголом в форме инфинитива без частицы to и указывает на время, которое при переводе на русский язык переносится на смысловой глагол. Для передачи усиления в русском переводе можно использовать слова действительно, все же, наконец и т.п.
The value does seem high in the
light of this observation.
|
В свете этого наблюдения данное значение действительно кажется высоким. |
|
|
It did cause some difficulties. |
Это все же вызвало некоторые трудности. |
Exercise 1. Translate the sentences, paying attention to the inversion.
1. It was in this country that a large scale of production of synthetic rubber was first organized.
2. It is countries with relatively high wage rates which make the most use of labour-saving machinery.
. It is the act of spending which influences the prices.
. It is for this reason that the balance of payments figures is subjected to revision in the months following their original publication.
. It is because the fixed exchange rate puts the official reserves at risk that most governments favour some more flexible system.
. It is governmental policies that will help keep interest rates from sinking very far, say bankers here.
. It is precisely the unreported holdings that have probably been diversified most.
. It was then that the industrial economies were hit by the first massive price increase.
Занятие 2
Пассивная форма имеет чрезвычайно широкое распространение в английском научном языке. Следовательно, изучение особенностей английских пассивных конструкций является одним из главных грамматических аспектов перевода.
Пассивную форму (Passive voice) глагола можно отличить от активной (Active) благодаря наличию вспомогательного глагола to be перед причастием II от смыслового глагола –be + Participle II (-ed, 3-я форма).
Глагол be выражает время, число, лицо и обычно не переводится (кроме тех случаев, когда этого требуют нормы русского языка). Причастие II от смыслового глагола переводится в том времени, в котором стоит вспомогательный глагол be.
Пассивной формой (страдательным залогом) мы называем такую конструкцию предложения, при которой подлежащее не является действующим лицом (или предметом), а само подвергается действию со стороны дополнения (при этом дополнение может подразумеваться, не будучи выражено в предложении):
Microsoft was founded by
William H. Gates in 1975.
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Компания Майкрософт была основана Уильямом Х. Гейтсом в 1975 г. |
При превращении активного оборота в пассивный прямое дополнение активного оборота становится подлежащим пассивного, а подлежащее активного оборота превращается в дополнение с предлогом by.
Поскольку подлежащее пассивного оборота является объектом действия, в пассивной форме могут употребляться только переходные глаголы, т.е. такие глаголы, действие которых переходит на объект, выраженный прямым дополнением, например:
He did the work well.
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Он сделал эту работу хорошо. |
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The work was done by him well. |
Работа была сделана им хорошо. |
До настоящего момента мы имели полную аналогию между английской пассивной формой и русским страдательным залогом. Но существуют и особенности их употребления:
1. В русском языке только прямо-переходные глаголы употребляются в страдательном залоге, а косвенно-переходные принимают форму неопределенно-личной конструкции: о проекте этой компании говорили. В английском языке в пассивной форме могут употребляться оба вида глаголов:
Особенно часто употребляются в пассивной форме следующие косвенно-переходные глаголы:
–to account for объяснять
–to agree upon договориться
–to arrive at достигать чего-либо
–to depend on зависеть от, полагаться на
–to dispose of реализовывать
–to insist on настаивать на
–to laugh at смеяться над
–to listen to слушать
–to look at смотреть на
–to provide for предусмотреть
–to refer to ссылаться на
–to speak of говорить о
–to send for посылать за
–to take care of заботиться о
–to lose sight терять из виду
В пассивной конструкции предлог сохраняет свое место после глагола, но относится к пассивному подлежащему.
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The book is often referred to. |
На эту книгу часто ссылаются. |
Перевод таких конструкций должен осуществляться с помощью неопределенно-личной формы. Если же в пассивной конструкции есть упоминание о действующем лице, то мы осуществляем перевод предложения в действительном залоге.
The book was much spoken
about by the economists.
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Экономисты много говорили об этой книге. |
2. Второе отличие английской и русской форм страдательного залога заключается в следующем:
В английском языке не только прямое (или предложное косвенное), но и беспредложное косвенное дополнение может стать подлежащим пассивного оборота после некоторых глаголов, типа to give, to pay, to order, to tell, to show и др. Если в активной форме имеется два дополнения –прямое и беспредложное косвенное, то любое из них может выполнять роль подлежащего в пассивном обороте. The company offered him a job (job –прямое дополнение, him –беспредложное косвенное). Такое предложение может быть перестроено в пассивную форму двумя параллельными способами:
Перевести такие предложения можно двумя способами:
He was offered a job.
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Ему предложили работу. |
He was offered a job by the
company.
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Компания предложила ему работу. |
3. Третье отличие английской пассивной формы от русской состоит в том, что некоторые английские переходные глаголы имеют в русском языке эквиваленты в виде непереходных глаголов, например:
–to enter a room войти в комнату
–to join a society вступить в общество
–to follow the man следовать за человеком
–to attend a meeting присутствовать на собрании
Пассивные конструкции с этими глаголами могут переводиться двумя способами:
1. Неопределенно-личной формой (при отсутствии дополнения с предлогом by):
The product was launched.
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Продукт выпустили. |
2. Действительным залогом (при наличии указания на действующее лицо):
The product was launched by our
rivals
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Продукт выпустили наши конкуренты. |
Итак, многообразие возможностей передачи на русский язык английской пассивной конструкции можно свести к четырем основным способам перевода.
1. Конструкцией, аналогичной конструкции английского предложения, т.е. с помощью глагола «быть» и краткой формы страдательного причастия (в настоящем времени глагол «быть» опускается):
This decision was made by CEO.
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Решение было принято исполнительным директором. |
2. Глаголами, оканчивающимися на -ся, (-сь):
Решение принималось исполнительным директором.
3. Неопределенно-личным оборотом в действительном залоге:
Sales representatives were asked
to render an account.
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Торговых представителей попросили сделать отчет. |
4. Действительным залогом (возможно только при указании на действующее лицо):
These values are influenced by buyers’experience.
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Опыт покупателей оказывает влияние на эти значения. |
Выбор способа перевода диктуется соображениями стиля.
Практическое задание 2
Exercise 1: Translate into Russian.
. Most government securities are marketable and may be bought and sold on the Stock Exchange.
. The precious metals were first used as money on the basis of weight.
. This question was raised at the last meeting and no conclusion was reached then.
. These products have been designed by a special team.
. Based on the total figure, it appears that an error was made in the budget.
. The price of a product is determined by the interaction of demand and supply.
. Raw materials and agricultural products are usually sold in open markets, where the influence of cost on supply is much less pronounced.
. An industry which is being increasingly mechanised may be employing less labour but increasing its output.
. The gradual trend towards larger enterprises has not been confined to manufacturing industry.
. Each individual firm may obtain its components and other requirements at relatively low cost because they are being mass produced for the industry.
. Units of production are officially referred to as establishment.
. The ordinary share capital of a company is usually referred to as the equity of the company.
. The output of agricultural products is seriously affected by variations in weather conditions.
. The management knew what prices were being asked for the commodity in every part of the market.
Занятие 3
Модальные глаголы
Модальные глаголы выражают не действие, а отношение к действию (возможность, вероятность и необходимость его совершения), поэтому никогда не употребляются самостоятельно, а только в сочетании со смысловыми глаголами.
При передаче модальности с английского языка на русский язык следует учитывать, что в русском нет такой разветвленной системы модальных глаголов, но он гораздо богаче модальными частицами и словами, а также модально-временными глагольными формами, которые позволяют выражать любые модальные оттенки мысли. Выбор способа перевода может быть сделан лишь на основе анализа всего контекста. Поскольку английские модальные глаголы многозначны, одному английскому модальному глаголу могут соответствовать либо несколько русских, либо вообще придется отказаться от их использования из-за неточного соответствия основному значению английского глагола и использовать вводные модальные слова и выражения. Например:
The contract must have been signed
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Контракт, должно быть, уже подписан. |
Ниже приводятся модальные глаголы в значениях, наиболее широко употребляемых в финансово-экономических текстах.
1. Предполагаемая возможность выполнения какого-либо действия благодаря:
а) наличию соответствующих объективных условий:
The plan can be realized now.
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План теперь может быть выполнен (вероятно, возможно). |
б) существующим законам
The agreement can be ratified now.
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Теперь соглашение может быть ратифицировано (как это и предусмотрено законом, т.к. все формальности соблюдены). |
2. Сомнение (удивление) в возможности чего-либо:
В вопросительном предложении –can/could + перфектный/неперфектный инфинитив.
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Can/could it really have happened? |
Неужели (не может быть; разве может/ могло…) это действительно случилось? |
3. Неуверенность, сомнение (говорящего) в чем-либо:
В отрицательном предложении –can’t/couldn’t have happened.
This can’t/couldn’t have happened.
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Не может быть (вряд ли; маловероятно, чтобы…; едва ли), чтобы это произошло. |
1. Допущение возможности осуществления чего-то при определенных условиях.
The prices may rise again within two weeks.
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Возможно (вероятно; может так случиться, что…; пожалуй…), цены вновь поднимутся в течение ближайших двух недель. |
2. Предположение с оттенком неуверенности, сомнения.
May/might + неперфектный инфинитив.
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This proposal may prove to be a solution. |
Может быть (не исключено, что…; возможно…; вероятно…; как будто…; словно…) это предложение и окажется решением проблемы. |
1. Необходимость выполнения действия в силу сложившихся обстоятельств (вынужденность).
Have to + неперфектный инфинитив.
The contract has to be revised.
|
Придется контракт пересмотреть (ничего не остается делать, как…; надо…; необходимо…; вынуждены). |
В этом же значении часто употребляются сочетания: have got + неперфектный инфинитив, got + неперфектный инфинитив.
The agreement has got to be approved.
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Соглашение еще необходимо одобрить. |
Кроме того, модальный глагол have to может использоваться и для выражения «достаточности».
You have to look at the current prices to see the present trend in the monetary supply.
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Достаточно посмотреть на современные цены, чтобы стала ясна ситуация с выпуском денег в обращение. |
Долженствование, обусловленное договоренностью или планом (to be + перфектный инфинитив).
This contract is to be signed early next week.
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Контракт должен быть подписан в начале следующей недели. |
Прошедшая форма модального глагола to be в сочетании с перфектным инфинитивом означает, что планируемое действие не было выполнено.
The conference was to have started as planned but…
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Конференция должна была начаться, как и планировалось, но… |
1. Долженствование в самом широком смысле без какой-либо субъективной или объективной оценки сообщаемого (must + неперфектный инфинитив).
You mustn’t enter a joint venture unless both parties benefit from the deal.
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Вы должны участвовать в деятельности совместного предприятия только при наличии выгоды для обеих сторон. |
2. Большая степень уверенности (вероятности): must + перфектный инфинитив.
The amendment must have been already approved.
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Поправка, должно быть, уже одобрена (очевидно; по всей вероятности; явно; скорее всего). |
Значение большой степени вероятности выражается также сочетаниями «to be sure (certain) +инфинитив» Кроме того, значение предложения, граничащего с уверенностью (но выраженного в несколько смягченной форме), передается в английском языке сочетанием: «will + неперфектный/перфектный инфинитив».
You will have heard the latest results, I believe.
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Я думаю, что Вы, должно быть (конечно же), уже слышали о последних результатах. |
Практическое задание 3
Exercise 1: Translate into English, paying attention to modal verbs.
1. What’s more, Americans may have to endure the squeeze of yet another round of interest rate hikes.
2. Borrowers, he warns, are unlikely to be surprised if the prime rate for commercial firm, falls as low as 15 per cent.
. The highly visible financial problems of Mexico have called into question the stability of other countries and brought to the fore-front a fear that IMF and World Bank may not be financially equipped to deal with a crises of this kind.
. Finance ministers from Britain, West Germany, France, Japan and the US are to discuss with the IMF managing director the coordination of their economic policies.
. The crisis in the Eurocredit market was mitigated by prospect that it may be some time before debt service arrears now exceeding $26 bn can be reduced to manageable proportions.
. There may still be room for further cuts, and there was some optimism in the City yesterday that further falls may be close, but the banks seem unlikely to take early action.
. The effect of the latest issue is to lift the bank’s gearing from about 12 per cent to 20 per cent –well within the international ceiling.
. It will be readily appreciated that this practice in bound to cause frustration among German exporters and banks that cannot be without consequences in the long run.
. But they (banks) will, more than at present, have to get closer to the realities of the economic world and take calculated risks.
. Countries with heavy foreign debt must be able to export if they are to service their debt without cutting back.
. The US officials had repeatedly predicted that US interest rates were likely to climb back to their record levels of about 20 per cent.
Занятие 4
Слова-заместители существительных;
слова-заместители глаголов
Слова-заместители –это служебные слова, которые используются вместо слов, уже упомянутых в данном или предыдущем предложении.
Существуют слова-заместители и для существительных, и для глаголов. При переводе на русский язык предложений с такими словами рекомендуется повторить замененное слово.
Слова-заместители существительных.
Кроме личных местоимений в именительном и объектном падежах, вместо существительных используются и другие слова:
1. mine, ours, his, hers, theirs, yours – это особая форма притяжательных местоимений, которая используется вместо сочетания существительного с притяжательным местоимением:
Our procedure is more practical than theirs (their procedure).
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Наш метод более практичен, чем их (метод). |
2. that, those –используются вместо существительных, которые имеют правое определение, поэтому в английском предложении после that, those следует или предлог (чаще всего of), или причастие (чаще всего Participle II), или прилагательное, а не существительное, как это бывает в случае, если that, those являются указательными местоимениями.
This point of view is that of a mathematician rather than an economist.
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Эта точка зрения является точкой зрения математика, а не экономиста. |
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These results are more reliable than those received by our rivals. |
Эти результаты надежнее, чем результаты, полученные нашими конкурентами. |
3. this, these –обычно используются в качестве подлежащего. За ними поэтому следует глагол. Эти слова-заместители заменяют существительное предшествующего предложения. Если при переводе невозможно повторить ранее упомянутые слова, то следует использовать служебные слова типа это, все это, все они, все эти явления и т.д.
These were some successive changes in price.
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Они представляли собой несколько последовательных изменений в цене. |
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This confirms our earlier suggestion. |
Это (явление, открытие) подтверждает наше раннее предположение. |
4. one (ones) –обычно заменяет существительное, которое имеет левое определение. Может заменять существительное во мн. числе. Тогда используется форма ones.
Among the disadvantages the
following ones can be mentioned.
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Среди недостатков можно упомянуть следующие (недостатки). |
5. the former … the latter –эти слова-заместители имеют значение «первый (из них)… последний (из упомянутых)». Однако во многих случаях в русском предложении следует повторить замененное слово, например:
The latter procedure is much
more complicated than the
former one.
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Последняя (из упомянутых) процедур сложнее, чем первая. |
Данные слова-заместители обычно употребляются в паре вместо двух существительных. Однако они могут использоваться и отдельно друг от друга, если автора интересует только первый или только последний из всех (необязательно из двух) предметов, явлений, упомянутых ранее.
In this paper, we shall take the former approach.
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В этой статье мы будем использовать первый метод. |
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This latter case is considerably more difficult to represent. |
Этот последний случай воспроизвести значительно труднее. |
Слова-заместители глаголов-сказуемых.
1. Do –глагол, который ставится вместо выраженного только смысловым глаголом сказуемого предыдущего предложения. Он обозначает время и согласуется с подлежащим. При переводе следует повторить замененный глагол, особенно в тех случаях, когда времена, обозначенные смысловым глаголом и глаголом-заместителем, не совпадают.
We will consider the ways to control business activity as Keynesian economics did.
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Мы будем рассматривать возможности контроля за деятельностью предпринимательства как рассматривала их кинезианская экономика. |
2. Первый вспомогательный глагол. Если сказуемое является многочленным, то для замены его используется первый вспомогательный глагол, выражающий временную или модальную характеристики. При переводе на русский язык следует повторить смысловой глагол, ставя его в том времени, на которое указывает вспомогательный глагол-заместитель, например:
As science has evolved so has its meaning.
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По мере того как развивается наука, растёт и её значение. |
3. Служебное слово «so». Если сказуемое, которое должно повторяться, является составным и его именная часть выражена прилагательным, существительным или наречием, то в качестве слова-заместителя (смысловой части) используется so. При переводе следует повторить смысловую часть сказуемого. Например:
These data are very important for
theory, and less so for practice
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Эти данные очень важны для теории и менее важны для практики. |
Практическое задание 4
Exercise 1: Translate into Russian the following sentences. Mind the difference in the meaning of the word one.
1. In a small country like the UK where there are strong trade unions, one should not expect to find any very great differences in regional wage rates.
. One cannot draw any conclusions about the effect of a price change unless one knows the cause of the price change.
. One can see that a fall in price may be associated with an increase or decrease in quantity demanded –it all depends upon what caused the price change.
. Normally, this period will be a very short one.
. An increase in the demand for wool by one industry will raise the price and affect the prices of all the other commodities made from wool.
. Lead and zinc are found in the same ore so that the extraction of one leads to the extraction of the other.
. One very important example of his relationship is to be found in the transport industry.
. Where commodities are in joint supply an increase in the demand for one of them will cause a fall in the price of the other.
. In a perfect market, there will be one and only one market price which is beyond the control of any one buyer or any one seller.
. At one time most of world’s nickel was obtained from a certain area in the Rockies.
. One often hears complains from workers in different industries that they “have lost out in recent wage settlements”.
. As one should expect, total output is much greater when the countries specialize.
. According to many employers older workers are more reliable and loyal than younger ones.
Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the words “that/those”.
1. Although there are more male births than female births, the number of females in total population exceeds that of males.
2. These rates are higher than those in most Western European countries.
. The most widely used indicator of monopoly power is that of the market share.
. Unofficial strikes are those which do not have full support of trade union.
. The rate of savings in rich countries is much higher than that in poor countries.
. The aim of monetary policy are the same as those of economic policy generally.
. This is due to the greatest element of risk and the fact that administrative cost of small loans are proportionally greater than those for larger loans.
. The most common definition of an industry is that used in official statistics which groups firms into industries according to physical and technical properties of their principle products.
. The selling costs of the larger firm will be much greater than those of smaller firm.
. Internal economies of scale are those which arise from the growth of the firm independently of what is happening to other firms.
. The separation of ownership and control in the modern corporation results in potential conflicts between owners and managers since the objectives of management may differ from those of the shareholders.
Занятие 5
Неличные формы глагола:
Причастие I, его функции в предложении
Причастие является неличной формой глагола, то есть не выражает категории лица и числа. Поэтому оно не может самостоятельно выполнять функций сказуемого. Временные отличия причастия имеют относительный характер.
Present participle (Participle I) выражает действие, одновременное с действием глагола-сказуемого:
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Discussing the problem of unemployment in this region they understood that it was not the main problem. |
Обсуждая проблему безработицы в этом регионе, они поняли, что она не была основной проблемой. |
Perfect participle (Participle II) выражает действие, предшествующее действию глагола-сказуемого:
Having launched the product, the
company realized that it was not
properly tested.
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Осуществив выпуск продукта, компания поняла, что он был недостаточно испытан. |
Функции причастия в предложении и способы перевода причастия.
1. Составная часть сказуемого, выраженного формой Continuous (в сочетании с глаголом to be) переводится личной формой глагола.
The advertising campaign
is being discussed now.
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Рекламная кампания сейчас находится в стадии обсуждения. |
2. Определение ставится перед существительным и переводится причастием.
The acting business must pay
taxes.
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Работающее предприятие должно платить налоги. |
3. Определительный причастный оборот (ставится после определяемого слова). Соответствует развернутому придаточному предложению или определительному причастному обороту.
The article contains several
chapters discussing this problem.
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а) Статья содержит несколько глав, в которых обсуждается данная проблема. |
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б) В статье содержится несколько глав, обсуждающих тему данной проблемы. |
4. Обстоятельственный причастный оборот времени, причины или образа действия.
Обстоятельственный причастный оборот времени:
Такие обороты соответствуют придаточным предложениям времени, иногда начинаются союзами while и when, которые на русский язык не переводятся.
Эти обороты можно переводить тремя способами:
а) деепричастным оборотом;
б) существительным с предлогом;
в) развернутым придаточным предложением.
(While) discussing their new project they found a lot of ways for its implementation.
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а) Обсуждая их новый проект, они нашли множество путей воплощения его в жизнь. |
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б) При обсуждении их нового проекта они нашли множество путей воплощения его в жизнь. |
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в) Когда они обсуждали их проект, они нашли множество путей воплощения его в жизнь. |
Обстоятельственный причастный оборот причины.
Эти обороты соответствуют придаточному предложению причины. Они не имеют перед собой союза и могут переводиться:
а) деепричастным оборотом;
б) развернутым придаточным предложением.
Knowing the complexity of this theory, we discussed its main points with the experts.
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а) Зная сложность этой теории, мы обсудили ее основные положения с экспертами. |
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б) Так как мы знали о сложности этой теории, мы обсудили ее основные положения с экспертами. |
Обстоятельственный причастный оборот образа действия.
Переводится деепричастным оборотом.
They managed to gain this
information carrying out market
research.
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Им удалось получить эту информацию, проводя исследование рынка. |
Практическое задание 5
Exercise 1: Translate, paying attention to Participle I and absolute participle construction.
1. Increasing concern has been expressed about the continued growth in world population.
. Loan capital is more appropriate to firms operating in stable market.
. Industries producing steel, paper and chemicals require very large quantities of water and tend to be found near rivers.
. With increasing numbers entering the working population, expanding industries will have little trouble in recruiting labour.
. In advanced capitalist societies, advertising is a powerful instrument affecting demand in many markets.
. Although most of the major money centre banks have emerged from the first phase of the liquidity crisis facing developing countries like Mexico in reasonable shape, the shadow, and some of the risks, remain.
. Having explored the possible relationship between capacity and expected output, we now examine the behaviour of costs as actual output changes.
. Having examined the relationships between outputs and costs, we now show how the behaviour of cost may be reflected in the supply curve.
Занятие 6
Причастие II. Его функции в предложении
Причастие II (Past Participle, или III форма глагола) соответствует русским причастиям:
Причастие II представляет собой неличную глагольную форму, которая не может выступать в функции самостоятельного сказуемого. Она может лишь входить в состав сказуемого в формах Perfect и Passive.
Обладая свойствами прилагательного и наречия, причастие II, выступая самостоятельно, выполняет в предложении следующие функции:
. Определение. Обычно в этом качестве занимает место перед определяемым словом; переводится отглагольным прилагательным со страдательным значением:
The described method is widely
used in economics.
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Описанный метод широко применяется в экономике. |
Когда причастие выражает глагольное значение, оно занимает место правого определения, т.е. следует за определяемым словом. Такое причастие соответствует русскому придаточному предложению и переводится соответственно:
We used all the methods
recommended.
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Мы применили все методы, которые были рекомендованы. |
2. Определительный причастный оборот (т.е. причастие с группой зависимых слов) всегда следует за определяемым словом и переводится:
а) причастным оборотом;
б) придаточным предложением.
A firm is composed of different parts called departments
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а) Фирма состоит из отдельных подразделений, называемых отделами. |
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б) Фирма состоит из подразделений, которые называются отделами. |
3. Обстоятельство. Причастие II употребляется также в функции обстоятельства времени или причины и занимает место до подлежащего (чаще всего с поясняющими словами).
Considered separately wasn’t difficult, this question.
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При отдельном рассмотрении этот вопрос не вызвал затруднений. |
Часто Причастие II в этой функции сопровождается союзами when или if. О способах перевода таких предложений смотри в конспекте предыдущего занятия.
. Смысловая часть сказуемого.
В этой роли Причастие II стоит после служебных глаголов be и have (которые выражают время, лицо, число) и образует следующие формы:
a) Passive –в этом случае причастие стоит после вспомогательного глагола be, который обычно не переводится:
Information was collected from internal sources.
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Информация собрана на основании внутренних источников. |
b) Perfect –причастие II стоит после вспомогательного глагола have, который не переводится, например:
Market researchers have used experimental techniques.
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Исследователи рынка использовали экспериментальные техники. |
Практическое задание 6
Exercise 1: Translate, paying special attention to rendering Participle II:
. The quantity of labour derived from a given stock of population depends upon several factors.
. Put simply, a business process is the set of activities performed to serve a customer.
. The information obtained is very valuable.
. Despite their philosophical commitment to private ownership, most of the bankers interviewed applauded the nationalization as a much-needed step to bolster international confidence in Mexico’s banking system.
. Even when particularly favourable interest rates are arranged, the bank will regularly feel the terms offered are unacceptably high.
. Foreign trade authorities have not infrequently observed prudent moderation in arriving at decisions observed more or less uniformly throughout the economic community.
. This is (the answer to the problem) the switching of capital to the US from other parts of the world prompted by concern about the possibility of an international banking collapse.
. Such interest rates, when combined with falling commodity prices and economic recession in the industrial world, spell serious trouble for developing countries.
. Already the number of countries forced to ask banks to reschedule their debts is expected to grow.
. The hoped-for consumer boom, promised by the President, hasn’t materialized yet.
Занятие 7
Причастные обороты: зависимые и независимые
Причастия I и II c относящимися к ним словами образуют причастные обороты, которые можно разделить на две группы –зависимые и независимые.
Зависимые причастные обороты –это такие, в которых перед причастием нет слова, обозначающего действующее лицо или предмет, поэтому при переводе такого оборота придаточным предложением следует повторить подлежащее всего предложения (если оборот играет роль обстоятельства) или ввести слово-заместитель «который» (если оборот играет роль определения). Союз, если его нет перед причастием, подбирается по смыслу, исходя из контекста.
The idea can be pronounced true
if tested by experience.
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Идея может быть объявлена верной, если она проверена на опыте. |
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When speaking about the new projects the manager demonstrated different figures. |
Когда менеджер говорил о новых проектах, он показывал различные графики. |
Следует помнить о том, что при переводе союзов if, as, when, unless c причастием II придаточным предложением не всегда следует повторять подлежащее. Это происходит в тех случаях, когда такое сочетание соответствует конструкциям с формальным подлежащим it типа as it was mentioned, if it is desired, unless it is stated, в которых опущены слова it is.
If desired the method of survey
may be used together with
observation.
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Если нужно, метод опроса может быть использован вместе с методом наблюдения. |
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As mentioned above the experiment was a success. |
Как упоминалось выше, этот опыт был удачным. |
Независимые причастные обороты –это такие, в которых перед причастием есть слово, обозначающее действующее лицо или предмет, и которое при переводе становится подлежащим придаточного предложения. Пользуясь принятой нами терминологией, к независимым причастным оборотам можно отнести:
а) абсолютный причастный оборот;
б) дополнение с причастием (Complex Object);
в) подлежащее с причастием (Complex Subject).
При переводе этих оборотов придаточными предложениями подлежащее английского предложения не повторяется.
Абсолютный причастный оборот (Absolute Participle Construction).
В этом обороте действие, выражаемое причастием, не обнаруживает прямой связи с подлежащим данного предложения, а имеет свое собственное подлежащее.
Переводятся эти обороты тремя способами:
а) Придаточным предложением времени: Когда (после того как) этапы исследования были определены, проблема решилась.
б) Придаточным предложением причины: Так как этапы исследования были определены, проблема решилась.
в) Самостоятельным предложением, соединенным союзами причем, в то время как, а, но, и. Последний способ перевода выбирается в том случае, когда НПО стоит до запятой.
The stages of research having been defined, the problem was solved.
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а) Когда (после того как) этапы исследования были определены, проблема разрешилась. |
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б) Так как этапы исследования были определены, проблема разрешилась. |
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Almost all stages of market research are expensive, personal interviews and consumers’ panels being the most expensive of all. |
в) Почти все этапы рыночного исследования требуют затрат, но персональное интервью и выбор группы потребителей являются самыми дорогостоящими. |
Соединительный союз подбирается исходя из контекста.
Абсолютный причастный оборот может вводиться словом with, которое не переводится. Кроме того, запятая в этом случае может отсутствовать.
With the model reconstructed we
may start rethinking of the whole
process.
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Так как модель сконструирована заново, мы можем начать снова обдумывать весь процесс. |
Причастие, как первое, так и второе, образует несколько предикативных конструкций, в которых оно находится в отношениях вторичной предикативности с именным элементом, выраженным, как правило, существительным или местоимением:
Объектный причастный оборот.
Эта конструкция в предложении выступает в функции сложного дополнения. Она употребляется:
. После глаголов чувственного восприятия (Participle I, Participle II): to see, to feel, to hear, to watch, to notice, to find.
We found the results of random
sampling being very curious.
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Мы обнаружили, что результаты случайной выборки являются очень интересными. |
2. После глаголов желания и побуждения к действию (Participle II): to make, to get, to like, to want, to have.
The company got the information tested.
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Компания получила проверенную информацию. |
3. После глаголов умственной деятельности (Participle II): to think, to consider, to know, to understand.
Pepsi considered this design been the best.
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Пепси считала эту форму (упаковки) лучшей. |
Дополнение, стоящее после сказуемого в предложениях с таким оборотом, чаще всего выражено существительным в общем падеже или местоимением в объектном падеже (it, him, her, them, us, me). Следует помнить о том, что при переводе местоимение становится подлежащим придаточного предложения и выражено именительным падежом.
We know him working at this problem since 2000.
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Мы знаем, что он работает над этой проблемой с 2000 г. |
Союз as (если он стоит перед причастием I или II) должен помочь обнаружить оборот, но при переводе опускается.
They thought the problem of wage increase as being of the importance.
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Они считали, что проблема повышения заработной платы была очень важной. |
Следует обратить внимание на предложения данной конструкции, в которых сказуемое выражено глаголом to have.
В этом случае данный глагол имеет значение «заставлять сделать так, чтобы». Это значение можно передать, не переводя сам глагол.
We have the concept approved.
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Мы заставили одобрить концепцию. |
Субъектный причастный оборот.
Эта конструкция в предложении выступает в качестве сложного подлежащего. Она возможна, как правило, только с глаголами чувственного восприятия, при этом они употребляются в страдательном залоге. Порядок слов в предложениях с таким оборотом такой же, как в предложениях с оборотом «подлежащее с инфинитивом» (см. занятие 11), только вместо инфинитива используется причастие I или II, иногда со словом as перед ним.
При переводе предложение с таким оборотом выносится вперед и оформляется в главное (обычно неопределенно-личное) предложение; подлежащее английского предложения становится подлежащим, а причастие –сказуемым придаточного предложения, которое вводится союзами что, чтобы, как. Слово as, если оно есть в английском предложении, не переводится. При переводе причастия глаголом-сказуемым придаточного предложения время его определяется с учетом времени сказуемого и формы причастия.
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Values are considered changing as buyers get more experience. |
Считается, что ценности изменяются по мере приобретения покупателями опыта. |
Практическое задание 7
Exercise 1: Translate the sentences, paying attention to Absolute Participle Construction.
1. Other things being equal, an increase in wage rates will increase the cost of labour relative to the costs of the other factors.
. In order to simplify the analysis we can consider two firms, one being representative of high-cost producers and the other of low-cost producers.
. Most industries make use of a variety of machines, each machine carrying out a different operation.
. The selling price must relate to the production cost, which in turn, depends on the quantity sold, this quantity being dependent upon the sales price.
. It being too late, they decided to stop working.
. Other things being equal, the demand for commodity will tend to vary directly as the price of its substitute.
. The installation was atomised last year, its capacity rising by
per cent.
. All the problems having been solved, they went home.
. The goods having been loaded, the dockworkers left the port.
. Member nations are required to subscribe to the capital stock of the World Bank, each being given a quota which is related to the member’s national income and position in the world trade.
Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences, paying attention to “Complex Subject” construction.
1. In the industrial nations which account for just under 80 per cent of the oil consumption in the Western world, the savings in the national oil bills can be expected contracting loan demand.
. Interest rates for long-term bonds are expected being volatile, even the uncertain outlook for a long-term slow-down in inflation.
. The new administration appears unlikely getting the early upturn in tax revenues, and that means it faces further headaches in balancing the federal budget.
. Meanwhile the Federal Reserve is understood having told Brazil there is no prospect of a bilateral bridging loan from the US, at least for the time being.
. But Germany is known being opposed to any idea of extending the scope of embargo provisions.
. The reference to mutual interest is intended making it clear that when the obligations and burdens on both sides have been considered, both parties must clearly stand to benefit in equal measure from the arrangements.
. And Delors (Finance Minister), for one, appears being resisting the talk of treating banking as a public service.
Занятие 8
Герундий
Герундий (the gerund) является неличной формой английского глагола, то есть не имеет категории лица, числа, наклонения. Поэтому он не согласуется с подлежащим и никогда не выступает в роли простого глагольного сказуемого. Категория времени у неличных глагольных форм имеет относительный характер. В результате исторического развития герундий обнаруживает тесную связь с существительным. По внешнему виду герундий совпадает с причастием I и отглагольным существительным, однако отличается от них способом перевода и функциями в предложении. Сравните:
. Герундий:
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception.
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Маркетинг –процесс планирования и приведения в действие концепции. |
2. Причастие I:
Planning and executing the
conception we use marketing.
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Разрабатывая и приводя в действие концепцию, мы используем маркетинг. |
3. Отглагольное существительное:
The planning and the executing of the conception is effected by means of marketing.
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На планирование и приведение в действие концепции оказывает воздействие маркетинг. |
Здесь мы имеем дело с явлением грамматической омонимии. Внешняя форма герундия полностью совпадает с формой причастия I, что видно из приведенной ниже таблицы.
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Active |
Passive |
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Simple |
writing |
being written |
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Perfect |
having written |
having being written |
Простой герундий (в Simple) употребляется, когда действие, которое он называет, протекает одновременно с действием глагола-сказуемого или еще не совершилось.
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We intend using the results of marketing research defining the main concept of management. |
Мы намерены использовать результаты исследования рынка при определении основной концепции управления. |
Перфектный герундий выражает действие, которое предшествует действию глагола-сказуемого.
I know of his having discussed the items of the agreement with the board of directors.
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Я знаю, что он обсудил основные положения соглашения с советом директоров. |
Функции герундия в предложении.
Герундий в предложении может выполнять следующие функции:
Формы герундия в русском языке нет, поэтому он при переводе выражается либо начальной формой русского глагола, либо русским существительным.
1. Подлежащее:
Choosing the market research strategy is a difficult task.
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Выбор стратегии использования рынка –трудная задача. |
2. Дополнение:
Information from outside the business is used for collecting data.
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Для сбора данных используется информация, находящаяся вне источников фирмы. |
3. Часть сказуемого:
Their aim was collecting
necessary data.
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Их цель состояла в том, чтобы собрать необходимые данные. |
4. Определение (всегда только правое):
Some companies have the power of taking over smaller firms.
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Некоторые компании обладают возможностью поглощения более мелких фирм. |
5. Обстоятельство:
В функции обстоятельства герундий переводится:
а) деепричастием;
б) существительным с предлогом;
в) придаточным предложением:
After finishing the experiment we discussed its results.
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а) Закончив эксперимент, мы обсудили его результаты. |
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б) После завершения эксперимента мы обсудили его результаты. |
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в) После того как мы завершили эксперимент, мы обсудили его результаты. |
Практическое задание 8
Exercise 1: Translate these sentences into Russian, paying attention to the functions of Gerund.
. Discounting is the process of buying a security for less than its face value.
. We discussed opening a new business.
. He risks losing all his money.
. His taking part in the development of the new system was a great help to us.
. We knew nothing about his being sent to London.
. We knew nothing about his having been sent to London.
. The control of the money supply is probably one of the most important instruments for regulating total demand in an economy.
. By increasing the minimum deposit and reducing the period allowed for repayment, the government has a quick-acting method of reducing the demand for consumer durables.
. The increase in government spending and borrowing will have some effect on the rate of interest.
. We have succeeded in entering a new competitive market.
Занятие 9
Герундиальные обороты (зависимые и независимые)
Герундий с относящимися к нему словами образует герундиальные обороты, которые обычно начинаются с предлога, притяжательного местоимения или существительного в притяжательном (иногда общем) падеже. Герундиальные обороты можно разделить на две группы: зависимые и независимые.
Зависимые герундиальные обороты –это такие обороты, в которых перед герундием (после предлога) нет слова, обозначающего действующее лицо или предмет. При переводе таких оборотов придаточными предложениями обычно повторяется подлежащее английского предложения, а герундий становится сказуемым. При этом предлог, вводящий герундиальный оборот, становится союзным словом, соединяющим главное предложение с придаточным. Поэтому в русском переводе главное и придаточное предложение соединяются словами то, что в том падеже, который определяется предлогом.
This method differs from that one by having other parameters.
|
Этот метод отличается от того тем, что он имеет другие параметры. |
Перевод некоторых предлогов, вводящих герундиальные обороты, союзными словами:
By –тем, что
Of –о том, что
To –тому, что
In –в том, что
In addition to –кроме того, что
In spite of –несмотря на то, что
Besides –кроме того, что
Owing to –благодаря тому, что
Due to –вследствие того, что
Независимые герундиальные обороты –это такие обороты, в которых между предлогом и герундием имеется слово, выражающее лицо (или предмет), совершающее действие, передаваемое герундием. Такое слово может быть притяжательным местоимением или существительным в общем или притяжательном падеже. При переводе оборота придаточным предложением это местоимение или существительное становится подлежащим, а герундий –сказуемым придаточного предложения. Перевод герундиального оборота придаточным предложением начинается с перевода предлога, стоящего перед герундием, например:
|
There is unmistakable proof of Gates’having been right. |
Имеются несомненные доказательства того, что Гейтс был прав. |
Если герундиальный оборот играет роль подлежащего (перед герундием нет предлога), то перевод его придаточным предложением следует начинать со слов то, что, например:
|
His having made this experiment is a known fact. |
То, что он уже провел этот эксперимент, является известным фактом. |
При переводе независимых герундиальных оборотов, в которых перед герундием стоит притяжательное местоимение, это местоимение становится личным местоимением в именительном падеже, то есть подлежащим, например:
|
We know of their having been satisfied with CEO’s explanations of the discrepancies. |
Мы знаем, что они были удовлетворены объяснениями расхождений, предложенными исполнительным директором. |
Глаголы, после которых обычно используется герундий:
To start, to begin –начинать
To continue, to go on –продолжать
To stop, to give up –прекращать
To aid in –способствовать, помогать
To aim at –иметь целью, стремиться к
To account for –объяснять
To avoid –избегать
To insist on (upon ) –настаивать на
To object to –возражать против
To be responsible for –быть ответственным за, вызывать
To prevent from –мешать, препятствовать
To succeed in –удаваться (что-то сделать)
Практическое задание 9
Exercise 1: Translate these sentences, paying attention to rendering gerundial constructions.
1. No lasting success can be achieved in the fight against inflation without restraining the trend towards growth in the money supply.
. The mechanism of wage indexation has prevented workers from shouldering part of the real costs produced by higher energy prices.
. The monetarists recommended slowing down and stabilizing money supply growth in order to restrain inflation.
. But since the OPEC nations will undoubtedly attempt to offset their revenue losses at least in part by reducing their imports, the current account shortfall should be considered lower in actual fact.
. Although in the early 80s a certain degree of tightening up in the personnel sector was effected, the basic positive outlook is still unchanged.
. The large volume of private placements doesn’t seem, however, to be the only, or even the most important reason for the restraint on the part of some investors in subscribing to new issues.
. Only on receiving slightly more positive interest rate signals from the US financial markets in the second half of the month did activity on the market begin to pick up.
. To an increasing extent, borrowing is done not for development purposes but for servicing debts and for financing heavy trade deficits caused by unequal terms of trade with big capitalist countries.
. Business, far from investing, is cutting back plans for expansion.
. The Euromarket provides an opportunity of raising substantial loans on favourable terms without the credit facility being linked to individual projects.
. The commission of experts is in favor of maintaining the Swiss banking secrecy law.
Занятие 10
Неличные формы глагола. Инфинитив.
Функции инфинитива в предложении,
употребление в составе сказуемого
Инфинитив (первая форма глагола) является неличной формой глагола, отвечающей на вопросы: что делать? что сделать? Формальным признаком инфинитива является частица to. Инфинитив только называет действие, но не указывает ни лица, ни числа. Он, как все неличные формы, не может согласовываться с подлежащим, следовательно, не может являться самостоятельным сказуемым. Инфинитив, также как и герундий, произошел от существительного и, подобно герундию, может выполнять в предложении функции существительного. Функциональная близость инфинитива и герундия сказывается в том, что во многих случаях возможно употребление одной формы вместо другой.
Выполняя функции существительного, инфинитив вместе с тем имеет и глагольные свойства. В частности, может присоединять прямое дополнение, может определяться наречием и имеет залоговые и временные отличия.
Формы Indefinite выражают действие, одновременное с действием глагола-сказуемого. Они не уточняют связи действия, выражаемого инфинитивом, со временем, поэтому перевод может осуществляться инфинитивом глагола как совершенного, так и несовершенного вида.
They wanted to introduce a new system.
|
Они хотели вводить (ввести) новую систему. |
Формы Perfect выражают действие, предшествующее действию глагола-сказуемого, переводятся инфинитивом совершенного вида.
He was expected to have done his work.
|
Предполагали, что он уже сделал свою работу. |
Функции в предложении и способы перевода.
1. Подлежащее. В этой роли стоит перед сказуемым в начале предложения и может переводиться неопределенной формой русского глагола или существительным.
To think otherwise would be a mistake.
|
Думать по-другому было бы ошибкой. |
|
|
To account for these variations is in principle straightforward. |
Объяснение этих изменений в принципе является простым. |
2. Дополнение. Стоит после сказуемого и переводится на русский неопределенной формой глагола.
We try to minimize the old
disadvantages.
|
Мы стараемся свести к минимуму ранее имевшие место недостатки. |
3. Обстоятельство. Может стоять в начале или в конце предложения. В обоих случаях его следует переводить неопределенной формой глагола с союзами для того чтобы, чтобы. Инфинитив может быть обстоятельством цели или обстоятельством следствия. Если это обстоятельство цели, то оно чаще всего стоит в начале предложения, и ему могут предшествовать союзы in order to, so as, которые помогают безошибочно определить, что перед нами обстоятельство, а не подлежащее. Если это обстоятельство следствия, то инфинитив чаще всего стоит в конце предложения, и ему часто предшествуют слова too, enough, sufficiently, sufficient.
In order to do a work well one must learn.
|
Чтобы сделать какую-то работу хорошо, нужно научиться делать это. |
|
|
The term “production” is too complex to be explained in one paragraph. |
Термин «производство» слишком сложен, чтобы объяснить его в рамках одного параграфа. |
4. Определение.
В этой роли инфинитив обычно стоит после определяемого слова и обязательно переводится придаточным предложением, вводимым союзом который. При этом следует помнить, что инфинитив в форме Indefinite можно переводить сказуемым в будущем времени и со словами должен, нужно, можно, независимо от времени сказуемого.
There are many considerations to be taken into account in
determining marketing strategy.
|
Существует много соображений, которые следует принимать во внимание при выборе стратегии маркетинга. |
5. Вводный член предложения.
В этой функции инфинитив стоит обычно в конце предложения, всегда выделяется запятыми и может переводиться или деепричастием, или неопределенной формой глагола.
To sum up, we shall present the table of results.
|
Подводя итог (чтобы подвести итог), приведем таблицу результатов. |
Употребление инфинитива в составе сказуемого.
В этом случае он выступает в сочетании со служебными глаголами и может использоваться с частицей to и без нее.
. Инфинитив с частицей to:
а) стоит после глагола-связки be, который переводится словами значит, заключается в том, чтобы, например:
Our task is to launch this product in time.
|
Наша задача заключается в том, чтобы сделать (выпустить) этот продукт вовремя. |
б) стоит после глаголов be и have, которые являются эквивалентами модального глагола must и переводятся словами должен, нужно, можно.
|
The question of the procedure is yet to be settled. |
Вопрос о методе еще нужно (предстоит) решить. |
2. Инфинитив без частицы to употребляется:
а) для образования будущего времени.
All such attempts will fail.
|
Все такие попытки будут неудачными (ни к чему не приведут). |
б) для образования сослагательного наклонения после вспомогательных глаголов и при самостоятельном употреблении в придаточных предложениях.
This would give rise to economic
problem.
|
Это привело бы к возникновению экономических проблем. |
|
|
It is necessary that the model adequately represent the problem situation. |
Необходимо, чтобы модель адекватно представляла ситуацию проблемы. |
в) для образования повелительного наклонения.
Let us avoid unnecessary
complications.
|
Давайте избегать ненужных осложнений. |
г) после модальных глаголов.
A decision maker must evaluate the research and its results.
|
Человек, принимающий решения, должен оценить исследование и его результаты. |
Практическое задание 10
Exercise 1: Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the functions of the infinitive.
1. The purpose of each business process is to offer each customer the right product or service.
. More than 200 years ago, the economist Adam Smith formulated a theory to describe industrial practices that were already centuries old.
. There are nation-wide schemes to encourage industrial investment.
. To obtain a Stock Exchange listing, a company must have at least 25% of its shares held by public.
. In order to create a supply of loans, people with the necessary financial resources have to be persuaded to loan.
. Efforts to increase the productive capacity of poorer nations will only be effective if these nations are able to increase their exports.
. At the last moment they decided not to continue with the negotiations.
. It is important to carry out these changes as quickly as possible.
. To encourage our employers to develop their skill is one of the prime concerns of management.
. We have decided not to advertise this position, but recruit internally.
. It is impossible for us to accept these terms.
. The sales director claimed to have found three new customers.
. After the acquisition they didn’t dare to replace the whole management team immediately.
Занятие 11
Неличные формы глагола. Инфинитивные обороты –
зависимые и независимые
Зависимые инфинитивные обороты –это обороты, в которых перед инфинитивом нет слова, обозначающего действующее лицо или предмет, поэтому при переводе оборота придаточным предложением приходится повторять подлежащее английского предложения, а инфинитив сделать сказуемым.
I remembered to have studied the causes of this firm’s failure.
|
Я помню, что я изучал причины, по которым эта фирма потерпела неудачу. |
Независимые инфинитивные обороты –это обороты, в которых перед инфинитивом есть слово, обозначающее действующее лицо или предмет, и которое становится подлежащим в придаточном предложении, а инфинитив –его сказуемым (то есть не зависит от подлежащего).
We know F.H. Sonnenberg to have written a famous book “Marketing to win”.
|
Мы помним, что Ф.Х. Соненнберг написал знаменитую книгу «Маркетинг для победы». |
Абсолютный (независимый) инфинитивный оборот.
Порядок слов здесь такой же, как и в причастном абсолютном обороте: есть слово, обозначающее действующее лицо или предмет, за которым стоит инфинитив (а не причастие, как в причастном обороте). При переводе инфинитив становится сказуемым или в форме будущего времени, или со словом должен.
We asked him to help us, the work to be done in a week.
|
Мы попросили его помочь нам, т.к. работа должна быть сделана через неделю. |
Встречается такой оборот реже, чем причастный, и запятая перед словом with нередко опускается.
We shall make the experiment (with) the sample to be taken from another country.
|
Мы проведем этот эксперимент, причем группа испытуемых будет выбрана в другой стране. |
Сложное дополнение (Complex object).
Данная конструкция состоит из существительного в общем падеже или местоимения в объектном падеже и инфинитива и представляет собой сложное дополнение. Употребляется:
а) После глаголов чувственного восприятия (инфинитив без частицы to): see, hear, feel, watch, perceive, notice, observe.
We noticed him be the most
experienced manager in this
company.
|
Мы заметили, что он является самым опытным менеджером в этой компании. |
Местоимение в объектном падеже при переводе становится русским личным местоимением.
б) После глаголов, выражающих желания, чувства и намерения (инфинитив с частицей to): want, wish, like, hate, desire, intend.
They wanted Pepsi to get
potentially large market with
launching that new product –
Pepsi Max.
|
Они хотели, чтобы компания Пепси Кола с помощью выпуска своего нового продукта Пепси Макс вышла на потенциально крупный рынок. |
в) После глаголов умственной деятельности (инфинитив с частицей to): know, believe, think, consider, expect.
We believe the market research to have helped the business to come to a decision.
|
Мы полагаем, что исследование рынка помогло компании принять решение. |
г) После глаголов речи (инфинитив с частицей to): ask, order, command, allow.
The head of the department
allowed him to have continued
that project.
|
Начальник отдела разрешил, чтобы он продолжил работу над проектом. |
д) После глаголов, выражающих побуждение к действию (инфинитив без частицы to): let, make, have, get (to).
She made him solve this problem.
|
Она заставила его решать проблему. |
Именительный с инфинитивом (Complex subject).
Эта конструкция не имеет аналогии в русском языке, ее компонентами являются подлежащее предложения и инфинитив, которые при переводе связаны как подлежащее со сказуемым. Таким образом, инфинитив переводится на русский язык безличным придаточным предложением или вводными словами, употребляется в следующих случаях:
а) При сказуемом в страдательном залоге, выраженном глаголами речи, умственной деятельности, чувственного восприятия и побуждения: say, report, announce, know, believe, think, find, suppose, see, hear, make.
He is known to be the most
experienced manager in this
company.
|
а) Известно, что он является самым опытным менеджером в этой компании. |
|
|
б) Он, как известно, является самым опытным менеджером в компании. |
б) При сказуемом в действительном залоге, выраженном глаголами happen, seem, appear, prove, chance, turn out.
He seems to know our business plan in details.
|
Кажется, он детально знаком с нашим бизнес-планом. |
в) При сказуемом, выраженном сочетанием глагола-связки с прилагательными likely, unlikely, sure, certain.
|
He is unlikely to know our business plan in details. |
Маловероятно, что он знаком с нашим бизнес-планом в деталях. |
For + существительное + Infinitive.
Как во всех независимых оборотах, в этой конструкции перед инфинитивом есть слово, обозначающее лицо или предмет, и вводится оно предлогом for. Это слово становится подлежащим придаточного предложения (вводимого союзами чтобы или что), в котором инфинитив становится сказуемым, например:
|
For this approach to be valuable it must be improved. |
Чтобы этот подход имел ценность, его следует усовершенствовать. |
|
There is a tendency for the method to be used in all the experiments. |
Существует тенденция к тому, чтобы использовать этот метод во всех экспериментах. |
Практическое задание 11
Exercise 1. Translate into Russian, paying attention to the objective infinitive construction.
1. I don’t consider him to be a good manager.
. The manager considers the results to be unsatisfactory.
. We expected John to be elected.
. We expect interest rates to rise next week.
. We assume the market share of these brewing companies not to have increased.
. The experts find the demand to turn out to be greater than expected.
. They proved the demand to have been highly elastic when the market was depressed.
. We show the small firm to specialize in one product.
. They believe the larger firms to be able to employ buyers who are experienced in buying particular products.
. The scientists know the “ownership” of labour to be highly unpopular politically.
Exercise 2. Translate into Russian, paying attention to the subjective infinitive construction.
. The free market economy is said to be more flexible.
. The strike is expected to end soon.
. Complimentarity is said to exist when an increase in the demand of another product.
. Consumers are assumed to wish to maximize their utility of satisfaction.
. Firms are assumed to maximize their short-run profits.
. When an increase in the scale of production yields a more than proportionate increase in output, the enterprise is said to be experiencing economies of scale.
. The company is said to be losing a lot of money.
. Goods which are close substitutes for one another are said to be in competitive demand.
. A good is said to be in composite demand when it is demanded for several different uses.
. The capitalist system is said to be based upon the principle of competition.
Занятие 12
Перевод официально-деловых материалов.
Перевод латинских фраз.
Перевод официально-деловых материалов включает в себя перевод текстов соглашений, контрактов, договоров. Он требует знания характерных особенностей их построения и передачи.
1. Для официальных документов характерна четкость построения, обеспечивающая логическую последовательность изложения, отграничение одной мысли от другой. Большие по размеру документы делятся на:
Разделы –sections
Подразделы –subsections
Главы –chapters
Статьи –articles
Пункты, параграфы –clauses, items, points, counts, paragraphs
Такие термины, как clause, item, point, count, paragraph, часто не имеют четкой дифференциации значений и при переводе данного документа лишь необходимо придерживаться того, чтобы одному и тому же английскому термину постоянно соответствовал один и тот же русский вариант.
Кроме того, в английском тексте официальных документов часто используются буквенные обозначения разделов или пунктов –а), в), с), d) и так далее. При переводе следует сохранять буквы латинского алфавита, так как это способствует сохранению точности и облегчает ссылки на соответствующий документ при переводе с русского языка на английский язык.
. Для обеспечения аутентичности перевода необходимо обеспечить не только точную передачу содержания документа, но и точную передачу некоторых моментов, которые на первый взгляд могут показаться формальными. Так, необходимо следить за тем, чтобы в переводе было четкое соответствие официальных названий, принятых в русском и английском языках:
|
The USA |
США |
|
The United Stated of America |
Соединенные Штаты Америки |
3. Для исключения возможности разночтений или неправильной интерпретации перевода текста документа переводчик часто прибегает к дословному переводу формулировки текста, что ведет к созданию большого количества штампов, которые быстро становятся традиционными и регулярно употребляются при переводе официально-деловых материалов:
The terms and conditions –сроки и условия
Within the framework –в рамках
The contracting parties –договаривающиеся стороны
Within prejudice to –без ущерба
. Одна из основных особенностей официально-деловых материалов –стремление в максимально сжатой форме изложить содержание документа, что ведет к изложению в одном предложении самых разнообразных положений. А это, в свою очередь, вызывает появление внутри одного предложения многочисленных инфинитивных и причастных придаточных оборотов. В таких случаях при переводе на русский язык уместно пользоваться дословным переводом.
. В договорах, контрактах, уставах и других официально-деловых материалах очень часто встречаются случаи употребления глагола shall со 2-м и 3-м лицом единственного числа. При переводе на русский язык в таких случаях употребляется настоящее время, а оттенок долженствования, имеющийся в английском языке, не передается.
6. В связи с обилием традиционных формулировок, исторически складывавшихся в течение длительного времени, для официально-деловых материалов характерно употребление торжественной, а подчас и архаической лексики. При переводе подобных слов нужно использовать соответствующие слова и фразы, имеющиеся в русском языке. Например:
Aforesaid –вышеуказанный
Abovementioned –вышеупомянутый
Herein –при сем, в данном документе
Hereinafter named –здесь и далее именуемый
Передача таких слов, как therein, therewith, there at, there of, there to, зависит от контекста.
. В английских официальных текстах иногда употребляются латинские и французские слова и фразы, как правило, эти исключения переводятся на русский язык их соответствиями.
Ad hoc –специальный
Bona fide –чистосердечно
Condition sine qua non –непременное условие
En bloc –в целом
Fait accompli –свершившийся факт
Inter a lia –помимо всего прочего
Ipso facto –по самому факту
Mutatis mutandis –с соответствующими изменениями
Modus vivendi –временное решение вопроса
Per capita –на душу населения
Pro tempore –временно
Etc. –и т.д.
Некоторые иноязычные слова и фразы, получившие широкое распространение в разных языках, при переводе на русский язык либо сохраняются в своем иностранном написании, либо транскрибируются. Последний способ является наиболее распространенным. Например:
Status qvo –статус кво
Quorum –кворум
Persona (non) grate –персона (нон) грата
Tabula rasa –табуля раза
Casus belli –казус белли
A priori –априори
De facto –де-факто
Force majeure –форс-мажор
. Четкость построения официальных текстов находит свое отражение и в унифицированной схеме начала и окончания текста.
Практическое задание 12
Exercise 1: Translate, paying attention to rendering archaic word.
. The Banks grant to the Borrower upon the terms and subject to the conditions hereof a loan facility in the aggregate amount of … or the equivalent thereof in Deutsche Mark.
. The Facility is made available severally by each Bank in the amount of its Commitment. The failure of any Bank to carry out its obligations hereunder shall not relieve any other Bank, the Agent or the Borrow of any Bank be liable for the obligations of any other Bank hereunder.
. The Facility is available to the Borrower only during the Availability Period. Any part of the Facility which remains undrawn and uncancelled on the Termination Date shall be automatically cancelled at the close of business on that date.
. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained or implied in this Agreement, the Borrower shall not be entitled to give notice of its intention to draw any Advance hereunder until all the documents listed in the Second Schedule have been received by the Agent and in from and substance satisfactory to the Agent.
5. The agent shall be under the same obligations and be entitled to the same rights and powers in relation to any sums advanced by it hereunder in its capacity as a Bank as if it were not the Agent nor shall it be obliged by reason of its position as Agent or otherwise to account to any other Bank for any sum received by it for its own account hereunder or for the profit element thereof.
. It shall not be a defence to a claim by any Bank under this Clause that any increased cost, reduction or payment therein referred to could have been avoided by such Bank.
. The Borrow will, within forty-five days of the date hereof, pay to the Agent for account of the Managers a management fee in accordance with the terms of the letter dated 8th October, 1975 sent by the Borrower to the Managers.
. The Borrower may not give any notice of its intention to make a drawing hereunder until all documents listed in the Second Schedule hereto have been in the possession of the Agent in sufficient copies for the Agent and each Bank and in from and substance satisfactory to the Agent for at least five Business Days.
Exercise 2: Translate, paying attention to rendering Latin cliches.
. Any payment by the Borrower of its obligations under any Note shall discharge pro tanto the Borrower’s obligations under this Agreement and upon due payment or satisfaction by the Borrower of all its obligations under the Notes, or of the corresponding obligations in this Agreement, the same shall be cancelled and forthwith returned to the Borrower.
. B) Any prepayment of the proportion of any Advance lent by any Bank persuant to Clause 12, 13, or 14 shall reduce pro rata the Borrower’s obligation to repay such Advance under Clause 9 on each subsequent Repayment Date.
. Its obligations hereunder are and will be direct, unconditional and general obligations of the Borrower and will rank at least pari passu with all other indebtedness and contingent liabilities of he Borrower.
4. Provided, that it shall not be an Event of Default if the Borrower conducts a bona fide dispute in respect of any such indebtedness to settle such dispute.
GLOSSARY
|
Aggregate demand |
the proportion of the total demand (for a product) that is supplied by a particular manufacturer or brand |
|
Aggregate supply |
the total amount of goods and services resulting from adding together all the spending power of people in the complete economy of a country |
|
Barriers to entry |
actors which prevent the entry of new firms into an industry |
|
Barter |
trade by direct exchange of goods for other goods without using money |
|
Bill of exchange |
a written order telling one person to pay a certain sum of money to a named person on demand or at a certain time in the future |
|
Buying power |
the amount of goods and services that money can buy at a given time |
|
Capital |
accumulated wealth or property, used in the production of further wealth, i.e. one of the factors of production, the others being land and labor |
|
Cheque |
legally, a bill of exchange drawn on a balance payable on demand |
|
Command economy |
an economy where the government makes all decisions about production and consumption |
|
Commodity |
any article (a good or a service) that can be bought or sold |
|
Competition based pricing |
setting a price based on the prices charged by competitors for similar products |
|
Conglomerate firm |
a firm that is engaged in a number of unrelated productive activities, e.g. car assembly and the production of bread |
|
Conglomerate merger |
a merger between firms in unrelated business, e.g. between an automobile manufacturer and a food processing firm |
|
Consumer goods |
goods that satisfy personal needs rather than those required for the production of other goods |
|
Cost inflation |
the kind of inflation that is caused by rising costs of labor and materials, not by increased demand |
|
Costing estimating |
the cost of making goods or fixing the prices they should be sold at to make a profit |
|
Cost plus pricing |
fixing a price by adding a percentage profit margin to the cost of production of the good or service |
|
Creeping inflation |
a slow rise in the level of prices of below 2 or 3 per cent a year |
|
Demand |
the quantity of goods or services which purchasers are prepared to buy at a given price in a given period of time |
|
Demand inflation |
the kind of inflation caused by an excess of demand over supply resulting in a decrease in the value of money |
|
Denomination |
a class or unit based on quantity, value or measure |
|
Direct foreign investment |
investment by companies domiciled in one country in companies a domiciled in another; it usually entails investor control and managerial involvement |
|
Discount |
a sum of money allowed for immediate payment of a sum due to a later date |
|
Discount House |
a commercial banking firm that discounts bills of exchange which have been accepted by accepting houses |
|
Discouraged worker |
a person who has become depressed about the prospects of ever finding a job and decides to stop even trying |
|
Distribution |
the arrangements and activities needed for getting goods from the manufacturer or importer to the consumer through the channels of distribution which are usually the wholesalers and retailers |
|
Duopoly |
a market consisting of two sellers |
|
Economic activity |
the activity relating to commerce and industry |
|
Economic growth |
the percentage annual charge in the national income of a country or a group of countries |
|
Economic theory |
that part of the study of economics that examines and explains the working of an economic system and how it is influenced by human behavior, by the natural forces of the world and by man-made institutions such as markets, laws and governments |
|
Economies of scale |
the long run reduction in average costs that occurs as the scale of the firm’s output is increased |
|
Economics |
a social science studying human behavior within the context of markets, the study of the natural laws governing the production, distribution and consumption of wealth |
|
Economist |
a social scientist with special knowledge of economics, such as a teacher or a writer on the subject or a person who is employed by a business organization to forecast movements in prices and in the market demand for various products and services |
|
Employment |
the use of labor and capital to produce goods and services |
|
Employee |
a person who works for another person or a business, especially for money |
|
Employer |
a person or company that hires workers and provides work |
|
Entrepreneur |
a person, usually the owner, who organizes, finances and manages a commercial or industrial business in the expectation of making a profit |
|
Enterprise |
a business organization |
|
Equilibrium |
a state of balance when all the economic forces present in a situation have an equal influence and there is no tendency to change |
|
Exchange |
the process of giving and receiving |
|
Fluctuation |
the rising and falling or changing of prices, numbers, rates or amounts |
|
Free market economy |
an economy in which supply and demand regulates prices, wages, etc., rather than government policy |
|
Funds |
amounts of money |
|
Hidden inflation |
the lowering of the quality of products in general in order to prevent, and so to hide, an increase in price |
|
Horizontal merger |
a merger between firms that produce and sell the same products, i.e. between competing firms |
|
Household |
a group of individuals whose economic decision-making is interrelated. They enter the market place as buyers or consumers of goods and services produced by firms. They provide factor inputs to firms in order to produce those goods and services |
|
Hyper-inflation |
an extreme form of inflation, when the money supply is being increased very rapidly, resulting in an increase of over 20% of the price level annually |
|
Income |
the money of all kinds coming in regularly, especially to a person, family, or organization, such as salary or wages from employment, rent from property, profits from business and fees for professional services |
|
Inflation |
a rise in the general level of prices |
|
Inflationary gap |
that part of government spending which is not covered by taxes or borrowing from the public, but is met by issuing new paper money |
|
Inflationary spiral |
a state of inflation that gets worse and worse, because higher prices result in demands for higher wages; and higher wages increase costs and so cause higher prices |
|
Innovation |
practical application of an idea that has already been discovered but is only now to be exploited |
|
Interest rate |
the relation between the payment received by a lender of money and the amount of money lent, expressed as a percentage per period of time |
|
Intermediary |
an individual acting as a link between persons or companies |
|
Labor force or workforce |
1) the total number of people employed by a firm or some other organization to produce goods and services; 2) the total number of people in an economy available to produce goods and services |
|
Laissez-fair |
loose-rein supervision |
|
Legal tender |
the form of money in which a person has a right by law to pay a debt and which the creditor must by law accept in settlement of the debt |
|
Liabilities |
the debt owed by a business to its creditors and to its owner |
|
Loan |
an amount of money borrowed by an individual or a company |
|
Macroeconomics |
part of economic study considering the whole economy from a national point of view |
|
Market oriented business |
a business which develops products which have been researched and designed to meet the needs of customers |
|
Mainstream economics |
the study of how market works |
|
Marginal utility |
the utility of one unit of a commodity |
|
Market |
an institutional arrangement that promotes trade or exchange of goods |
|
Market share |
the amount of an economic good that will be offered for sale in the market at a certain price or time |
|
Market oriented pricing |
setting a price based on an analysis of the market |
|
Marketing |
the action of identifying, satisfying and increasing the buyer’s demand for a company’s products by meanssuch as advertising, sales promotion, pricing, carrying out market research and developing and testing new products |
|
Market research |
1) the systematic and objective classification, collection, analysis and reporting of information about a particular marketing problem; 2) the process of gaining information about customers, competitors and market trends through collecting primary and secondary data |
|
Mature |
in business, especially regarding bills of exchange or insurance in policies, to become due for payment or repayment |
|
Merger |
an amalgamation or joining of two or more firms into an existing firm or to form a new company |
|
Microeconomics |
part of economic study oferring a detailed treatment of one aspect of economic behaviour ignoring interactions with the rest of the economy |
|
Monetary policy |
the control, by the government, of a country’s currency and its system for lending and borrowing money, especially through the supply of money |
|
Monetary union |
permanently fixed exchange rates within the union, free capital movements and a single monetary authority setting the union’s money supply |
|
Money |
any article or commodity that is generally acceptable by law and custom as a means of payment |
|
Monopoly |
a market with a single buyer who has some influence over the price of his input |
|
Mortgage |
the advance of a loan to a person or business (the borrower/mortgagor) by other persons or businesses; the thing given as a security |
|
Multinational enterprise |
A firm that owns production, sales and other revenue-generating assets in a number of countries |
|
Multiplier effect |
denotes the phenomenon whereby some initial increase (or decrease) in the rate of spending will bring about a more than proportionate increase (or decrease) in national income |
|
Natural monopoly |
a market with a single firm which can serve that market at lower cost than any combination of two or more firms |
|
Natural rate of unemployment |
the rate of unemployment when the labour market is in equilibrium |
|
Non-tariff barriers |
differences in national regulations or practices which prevent free movement of goods, services and factors across countries |
|
Oligopoly |
a market with a small number of sellers |
|
Participation rate |
the percentage of the population of working age who declare themselves to be in the labour force |
|
Payment |
a transfer of funds in any form between two parties |
|
Prevailing price prices |
now current in the market |
|
Price |
the money value of a unit of a good, service, financial security or assets which a buyer is required to pay a seller to purchase the item |
|
Prices and incomes policy |
the application of controls on prices and incomes (particularly wages) in order to stop or slow down inflation in an economy |
|
Pricing |
decision-making process involved in setting a price for a good or a service |
|
Primary data |
information which has been gathered for a specific purpose through direct investigation such as observation, surveys and through experiment |
|
Product oriented business |
a business which develops products with little or no market research and which it hopes will prove successful in the market |
|
Profit margin |
the extra which is added to the cost of a product to cover the profit to be made |
|
Production |
the making of useful goods and services which are scarce and have a price |
|
Production technique |
a particular method of combining inputs to make outputs |
|
Regional policy |
a policy concerned with removing significant imbalances between the regions of an economy in respect of unemployment rates and levels of income per head |
|
Regional unemployment |
a form of structural unemployment associated with the decline of certain industrial activities |
|
Revenue |
the money received by a firm from selling its output of goods or services, or money received by government from taxation |
|
Resource allocation |
a list or complete description of who does what and who gets what |
|
Scale of preferences |
an arrangement of things in one’s own mind with the most preferred items towards the top of the scale |
|
Secondary data |
information which already exists, such as accounts and sales records, government statistics, newspaper articles or reports from advertising agencies |
|
Shareholders |
the individuals and institutions who contribute funds to finance a joint-stock company in return for shares in that company |
|
Substitute products |
any goods or services that are considered to be economically interchangable by buyers |
|
Supply |
the total quantity of a good or a service available to the general public |
|
Suppressed inflation |
inflation that would be much greater if the government were to remove controls on prices and wages |
|
Takeover |
the acquisition of control of one company by another or occasionally by an individual or group of investors |
|
Total utility |
total satisfaction derived from the possession of a commodity |
|
Trade |
the business of buying and selling goods for money or of exchanging goods for goods |
|
Transaction |
a business deal, especially a sale or a purchase, by business |
|
Treasury |
the department responsible for the finances, the management of the monetary system, etc. |
|
Unemployment rate |
the percentage of the labour force without a job but registered as being willing and available for work |
|
Utility |
the ability to satisfy wants |
|
Vertical merger |
a merger between firms operating at different stages of production, e.g. from raw materials to finished products to distribution |
|
Wage |
the money paid, usually in cash each week, to a worker for work done |
|
Wants |
the basic needs of people |
|
Wealth |
a stock of goods that are useful, scarce and can be exchanged for a money price |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. W. D. Barndt, Jr. –Marketing. –The Hartford Graduate Center. School of Management, 1991.
. T. E. Benson. –Beyond Niche Marketing. Industry Week, Sept. 17, 1990.
. Business and Economics for GCSE. –Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, 1996.
. Economic Analysis. A Workbook. –Department of Social Sciences and Languages. Sunderland Polytechnic. London Butterworths, 1971.
. Economics, Business: Student’s Book. –Nuffield, Longman group Ltd, 1994.
. K. Hoyle, G. Whitehead. –Business, Economics: Made Simple. –.
. G. Whitehead. –Economics: Made Simple. –W. H. Allen&Co. Ltd, 1970.
. Дроздова Т.Ю., Берестова А.И., Маилова В.Г. –English grammar. Reference and practice. –СПб., 2001. –с.
. Дроздова Т.Ю. Зайцева И.К. Лабораторные работы по грамматике английского языка для студентов I курса. –Л., 1989. –с.
. Португалов В.Д. Economics: Учебник по английскому языку. –М.: 1998. –с.
Учебное издание
English for Economics
Учебное пособие для студентов
экономических специальностей вузов
Компьютерная верстка Т. В. Новиковой
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* The British economist, John Maynard Keynes, is one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. In 1936 his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money transformed the economic thinking of that time.
* Perfect (pure) competition is the complete form of competition. It is the market situation in which there are many buyers and sellers of a product, and no single buyer or seller is powerful enough to affect the price of the product.
The social sciences, such as sociology and social psychology can compliment the study of economics as they deal, in part, with the way in which people organize themselves into household and other units.