3. «Убывающие отдачи» для тех, кто изучал элементарную экономическую теорию, являются правилом, которое объясняет, почему вторая шоколадка никогда не будет такой же вкусной, как первая. Однако экономист Артур Брайен из Стендфорда изобрел закон «увеличивающихся отдач», которым он объясняет эффективную деятельность «software» индустрии.
4. Общество, производство которого соответствует точкам на границе производственных возможностей, функционирует эффективно, т.к. достичь увеличения выпуска одного товара можно лишь за счет сокращения выпуска другого.
5. Если в одном из секторов гипотетической экономической системы происходит модернизация производства и там начинают применять новую технологию, позволяющую добиться экономии ресурсов, то в этом случае мы сможем наблюдать изменения в кривой производственных возможностей.
6. Если новая техника, новые технологические процессы будут внедряться одновременно и примерно в равной мере во всех отраслях гипотетической экономической системы, то граница производственных возможностей изменит свое положение и возможности выпуска товаров увеличатся примерно в равной степени при тех же ресурсах.
7. Если накопленные средства производства предназначены для производства новых средств производства, то они не могут быть использованы для производства потребительских товаров. Именно по этой причине структурная перестройка экономики в этом случае сопровождается спадом производства, закрытием некоторых предприятий и безработицей.
XIII. Translate the following text into English.
Граница производственных возможностей – метод иллюстрации экономической проблемы редкости. Граница производственных возможностей показывает максимальное количество товаров или услуг, которые могут быть произведены в экономике в данный момент времени при полном использовании доступных ресурсов и технологий. На графике1 представлена граница производственных возможностей для производства автомобилей и строительства больниц при условии, что все ресурсы полностью задействованы наиболее эффективно. Точка А представляет максимально возможный объем производства автомобилей при отсутствии строительства больниц, точка В обозначает максимально возможный объем строительства больниц при отсутствии производства автомобилей. Любой точке границы, например С, соответствует «выбор» между двумя товарами. Производство автомобилей может быть расширено только при сокращении ресурсов, выделяемых на строительство больниц.
Граница производственных возможностей является кривой, а не прямой линией, так как ресурсы не одинаково эффективны в производстве различных количеств товаров. Так, вблизи точки А большее число строителей переведено из строительства в автомобильную промышленность. Маловероятно, что они будут работать на новом месте так же эффективно, как и на прежнем. Поэтому на участке от точки А до точки С кривая идет полого. Напротив, вблизи точки В большинство автомехаников переведено из автомобильной промышленности в строительство. Вероятно, они будут работать в новой области менее эффективно, поэтому кривая при продвижении от точки С к точке U становится круче.
Точка U обозначат безработицу. Ее положение показывает, что может быть произведено большее количество этих товаров, если в производстве будут использоваться незанятые ресурсы. Линия A’B’ показывает, как может сдвигаться граница производственных возможностей в результате долгосрочного экономического роста, который увеличивает потенциальный выпуск. Величина и скорость сдвига границы зависят от темпов экономического роста.
XIV. Answer the following questions.
1. Give an example of the production possibility frontier for the production of two goods and comment on it.
2. What are the characteristics of the hypothetical economy described in the text?
UNIT 3. MARKETS
PART 1 THE ROLE OF THE MARKETS
I. Find the following word-combinations in the texts and translate them into Russian.
business can be transacted; remote control; adjustment of prices; to be in the business; rich executives; a suitable part-time job; to cover the costs; to bid up prices; markets involved in your purchase; allocation of scarce resources;
II. Find in the texts English equivalents for the following:
вдаваться в детали; общее определение; иметь отношение к …; ограниченные ресурсы; продавать с прибылью; ценовое регулирование; рынок оптовой продажи
III. Say what is meant by:
the main features of a mixed economy; normative economics; positive economics; prices adjust to ensure that scarce resources are used to produce those goods and services that society demands; the owner of a cafe is in the business; to run a cafe; a part-time job; detached scientists; to spell out the detailed implications of making a choice; scarce supplies of beef; adjustments in prices would encourage society to reallocate resources
IV. Listening.
Listen to the lecture twice. Be ready to give an oral summary of it.
V. Match the words (1 – 8) with their corresponding definitions (a – h):
1. stock exchange
2. labour market
3. insurance market
4. bond market
5. retail market
6. wholesale market
7. futures market
8. expense account
a. the number of people who are available to work, considered together with all the available jobs
b. a place where goods are sold to the general public for their own use, not for resale
c. the activities connected with buying and selling shares in companies
d. a place where contracts to buy or sell shares, goods, or currency at an agreed price to be delivered in the future are agreed
e. a system that allows you to get back from your employer any of your own money that you have spent while working
f. selling goods (especially in large quantities) to shopkeepers, for sale to the public
g. a place where interest-bearing securities, redeemed after a fixed period, are traded
h. a place where financial protection for property, life, health, etc. against specified risks (accident, fire, theft, loss, damage, death, etc.) is provided
VI. Match the words in the left-hand column with their synonyms:
1. to run
2. to reflect
3. to bring together
4. to look for
5. to demand
a) to meet
b) to require
c) to show
d) to operate
e) to search for
Match the words in the left-hand column with their antonyms:
1. to demand
2. convenient
3. to adopt
4. to bring together
5. satisfied
a) awkward
b) to reject
c) to offer
d) to scatter
e) dissatisfied
VII. Fill in the gaps in the text with the suitable words.
to secure jobs; at the expense of; in the long run; encouraging; benefits; initiatives; economic asset; forced; part-time jobs; child labour; priority; obtain; run; to provide; effort; suppliers' plants; living standards; trade rules; consumers; to enforce
The sad truth behind child labour is that for millions of poor families, children are an 1) _____ and often their only one. In many cases, their poverty means that such families are 2) ____ to give 3) _____ to the urgent - increasing family income - 4) ____ what many know to be the important - educating their children. In other cases families can afford to send their children to school only if they also have 5) _____ at the same time. It is this family dilemma that makes laws against 6) ____ so difficult 7) ____. Thus in Mexico children 8) ____ forged birth certificates in order 9) _____ in the maquiladora factories 10) ______ by American firms along the northern border. And it is this that makes worthy corporate codes of conduct liable to backfire: the danger is that, far from contributing to the end of child labour, they merely shift it to shadier areas of the economy that are far harder to police.
So what should companies do? Although there are no easy answers, some 11) ____ appear more 12) _____ than others. One such is the 13) ______ that Levi Strauss, a maker of jeans, has made 14) _____ schooling for child workers on its 15) ______ in Bangladash. The provision of other 16) _____, such as medical care and meals, may also be appropriate.
17) _____, however, only higher 18) ______ will put an end to child labour. If 19) _______ in rich countries really want to help the world's working children, there are many ways in which they can do so. One of them is to oppose protectionist 20) ______ that prevent the poor from exporting their goods.
VIII. Say whether the following statements are true or false. Extend your ideas.
1. Economics is about human behavior, so it cannot be a «science».
2. In a command economy, all decisions about production and consumption are taken by a government planning office.
3. «The economy of Hong Kong is closer to a free market system than that of Cuba» is a normative statement.
4. Economics can be applied to prove that one normative judgement is correct and the other is wrong.
5. In positive economics when taking decisions a lot depends on one's political persuasion.
6. Adam Smith argued that individuals pursuing their self-interest would be led « as by an invisible hand» to do things that are in the interest of society as a whole.
7. The government should subsidize the health bills of the aged.
8. Many propositions on positive economics would command widespread disagreement among professional economists.
9. Most economic systems nowadays are actually mixed economies with elements of traditional, command, and market economy.
10. In a market economy the prices of goods and services and individuals' ability to pay for them determine who will get these products.
IX. Complete the article with prepositions where necessary:
In a market system, the prices and production (1) ___ all goods, including the price (2) __ money and interest, are interrelated. A change (3) ____ the price (4) ____ one good -- say, bread -- may influence (5) ____ another price, such as bakers' wages. If bakers differ (6) ___ tastes (7) ____ others, the demand (8) ____ bread might be affected (9) ____ a change in bakers' wages, with a consequent effect (10) ____ the price of bread. Calculating (11) ____ the equilibrium price of just one good, (12) ____ theory, requires an analysis that accounts (13) ____ all of the millions (14) ____ different goods that are available
X. Read the text and choose the correct word or words from A, B, C or D to fill in each gap:
Bourses have become hugely more effective
FOR most of human history, exchanges involved physical contact. Whether trading gossip, gold or grain, people came together to give and take in a manner that was both social and, with luck, __(1) __beneficial. Marketplaces, the forerunners of exchanges, were the heart of early financial centres.
Once professional brokers got in on the act, though, the nature of exchanges began to shift. Buyers and sellers lost some of their close __ (2) __ with markets. Transactions became more complex, involving for instance the right to buy and sell goods in the future at a price fixed in the present. The brokers promised efficiency and superior returns, but some put their own interests above those of their clients. Outsiders had to take it on __ (3) __ that all the shouting and hand-waving by men in brightly coloured jackets meant they were paying, or being paid, a __ (4) __ price.
Over the past decade financial exchanges have changed out of all recognition. From Stockholm to Singapore, they have modernised and __ (5) __. Fortunately for investors, most of the changes have been for the better. They have brought more choice, faster trading and greater efficiency. Trading costs have come down, too. This __ (6) __ to financial centres, because exchanges are still at the heart of the world's financial network.
Much of the transformation is being driven by the increasing sophistication of investors and financial __ (7) __, particularly big investment banks, which direct the bulk of capital flows around the world. "Give a call to Goldman and you have a choice of all these global exchanges," says an official in Asia. Regulation has played a role as well. In both America and Europe, politicians have introduced rules aiming for greater transparency and competition.
As a result, the world's biggest exchanges are vying as never before for a share of highly mobile global capital. Their vast computerised hubs and their ability to zip transactions around the world in split-seconds allow them to play a dual role reminiscent of the marketplaces and sailing ships of medieval times. The most successful are those with attractive goods on offer, competitive prices and speedy response times.
__ (8) __ the rise of electronic trading, exchanges may have become more virtual than physical marketplaces, but the broader __ (9) __ of exchanges on cities - their "multiplier effect"-keeps on growing. An official at the London Stock Exchange notes that although its total listing fees (as opposed to trading fees) in the past financial year were a relatively puny Ј28m ($56m), fees __ (10) __ by advisers to new companies on the exchange - lawyers, investment bankers, accountants, public-relations firms and so on - were estimated at Ј3.5 billion.
1. A. economic B. economical C. economically D. economy
2. A. contact B. control C. support D. distance
3. A. behalf B. trust C. confidence D. charge
4. A. fair B. fare C. fares D. free
5. A. updated B. contracted C. expanded D. risen
6. A. deals B. matters C. essential D. important
7. A. facilitators B. helpers C. subsidiaries D. intermediaries
8. A. Given B. Taken C. Putting D. Allowing
9. A. demand B. impact C. pressure D. dependence
10. A. produced B. given C. generated D. supplied
XI. Tasks for thought.
1. Which of the following statements are normative, and which are positive?