Complete the following sentences with the appropriate word from the list below.

КирильчикТ.К.

 

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

 

Введениевэкономику

 

 

Минск 2016

 

 

А в т о р:Кирильчик Т.К.

 

Р е ц е н з е н т: Родион С.К.

 

Р е к о м е н д о в а н о кафедрой теории и практики английской речи БГЭУ

 

 

Кирильчик Т.К.

 

Введение в экономику = IntroductiontoEconomics: Электронноеучеб.-метод. пособие (ЭУМИ) / Т.К.Кирильчик. – Минск: БГЭУ, 2014. – 56 с., (1,9 печ. листов).

 

Учебно-методическое пособие содержит тексты для изучающего и ознакомительного чтения, лексический материал, комплекс упражнений и заданий для формирования англоязычных коммуникативных навыков студентов в рамках темы «Экономика как наука» по дисциплине «Иностранный язык (английский)». Предназначено для студентов БГЭУ дневной формы обучения.

WHATISECONOMICS?

GETTING STARTED

1. Read the following quotations about economics and choose one or more you like most of all.What do you think the authors mean by these statements? Express your own ideas to support or refute the author’s view.

1. Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses (Lionel Robbins - English economist, 1898-1984).

2. Economics is a subject that does not greatly respect one's wishes (Nikita Khrushchev- Soviet state man, 1894-1971).

3. I am not prepared to accept the economics of a housewife (Jacques Chirac - French politician, 1932).

4. If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion (George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist, 1856-1950).

5. He who will not economize will have to agonize (Confucius, 551-479 BC).

USEFUL VOCABULARY

advanced economy — развитаяэкономика

allocate, v - размещать

allocation, n - размещение

allocationofresources - распределение ресурсов

assets - фонды, средства, актив (баланса)

assume, v - предполагать

assumption, n - предположение

capitalgoods - средства производства

choice, n — выбор

commandeconomy - административно-командная экономика

commodity, n - предмет потребления, товар

consumption, n – потребление

costs, n - затраты, расходы, издержки

costsofproduction - издержки производства

currentassets - оборотный капитал, оборотные средства

demand, n – спрос

economic growth – экономическийрост

economic recession (or decline) - экономическийспад

entity, n - экономическая единица, организация

expenditure, n - расход

factorsofproduction — факторы производства

fixedcapital - основной капитал, средства, основные фонды

fixed costs - постоянныеиздержки

goods, products, commodities, merchandise, items — товары

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – валовыйвнутреннийпродукт (ВВП)

Gross National Product (GNP) – валовыйнациональныйпродукт (ВНП)

human resources - человеческиересурсы

income, n - доход

inflation rate - уровеньинфляции

interestrate - процентная ставка

marketeconomy - рыночная экономика

massconsumption - массовое потребление товаров

mixedeconomy - смешанная экономика

naturalresources - природные ресурсы

opportunitycosts - альтернативные издержки

output, n - выпуск продукции, объем производства

overheads, n - накладные расходы

privateownership - частная собственность

productiveresources - производственные ресурсы

productivity, n - производительность

raw materials - сырье

revenue, n - доход; выручка

scarcity, n - дефицит, нехватка, ограниченность

standard of living - уровеньжизни

surplus, n - избыток, излишек

supply, n - предложение

traditionaleconomy - традиционная экономика

utility, n - общественная полезность

variable costs - переменныеиздержки

working capital — текущиеактивы

WHAT IS ECONOMICS?

Pre-reading activities

1. Study the different meanings of the following words:

Economics is the study of the way in which money, industry, and trade are organized in a society.

The economy of a country or region is the system by which money, industry, and trade are organized: a capitalist/free/market/mixed economy, political/domestic economy. The wealth obtained by a country or region from business and industry is also referred to as its economy: the national economy. Economy is also careful spending or the careful use of things to save money: economy of effort/words.

An economist is somebody who studies, works or is an expert in the field of economics.

If you economize, you save money by spending it very carefully. To economize means to reduce expenditure, or use resources less wastefully: We had to economize on fuel.

Economic means concerned with the organization of the money, industry, and trade of a country, region, or social group. A business that is economic produces a profit.

Something that is economical does not require a lot of money to operate. If someone is economical, he spends money carefully and sensibly. Economical also means using the minimum amount of something that is necessary.

Economic or economical?

The adjective economic denotes economics or the economy, and is concerned with “aspects of the supply of goods and structure of wealth”: Economic activity/theory/development/planning/policy, the economic effects of taxation.

The adjective economical, on the other hand, has to do with economy specifically in its senses “making the best and most frugal use of resources” and “inexpensiveness”: an economical cook/housewife/production process/budget.

But the two adjectives can overlap in one sense, “efficient in terms of contributing to thrift”: an economical (or economic) use of electricity.

THE MEANING OF ECONOMICS

The word “economics” derives from the Greek word “oikonomika” that means household management. Economics came of age as a separate area of study with the publication of Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” (1776). Adam Smith is often considered to be the founder of modern day economics because he was the first writer to outline and appraise the working of a free market economy.

Although the content and character of economics can`t be described briefly, numerous writers have attempted that. An especially useless, though once popular, example is: “Economics is what economists do.”

Similarly, a notable economist of the last century Alfred Marshal called economics “a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life.” Lionel Robbins in the 1930s described economics as “the science of choice among scarce means to accomplish unlimited ends.”

During much of modern history, especially in the nineteenth century, economics was called simply “the science of wealth.” Less seriously, George Bernard Shaw was credited in the early 1900s with the witticism that “economics is the science whose practitioners, even all were laid end to end, would not reach agreement.”

Most economists define economics as a social science concerned with the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. Economics is the study of how goods and services get produced and how they are distributed.

By goods and services, economists mean everything that can be bought and sold. The two kinds of goods are economic goods and free goods. Economic goods are those things people will pay to receive. Bread, bicycles, jeans are examples of economic goods. Free goods are things that can usually be obtained without cost. Air, sunshine, and in some cases water are examples of free goods. An item can be both a free good and an economic good. The water people drink from a clean stream or brook is a free good. The water that people drink from the tap in their homes has to be paid for and is an economic good.

Services play an important part in everyone’s daily lives. Today more people work in service industries than in the production of actual goods. Sales policies and training of workers are directly related to the production of goods. Sales of many goods are, in turn, often linked to a warranty and repair service. Who would buy a TV set if there were no warranties or repair services?

By produced, economists mean the processing and making of goods and services. By distributed they mean the way goods and services are divided among people. Economists focus on the way which individuals, groups, business enterprises, and governments seek to achieve efficiently any economic objective they select.

Economists notice that there is no restriction to the amount or kinds of things people wish to purchase. But still there is a limit to the resources used to produce goods and services available to satisfy people’s wishes and needs. In other words, economics always deals with the problem of scarcity (scarcity is the condition that exists if more of a good or service is demanded than can be produced). For an individual, limited resources include time, money and skill. For a country, limited resources include natural resources, capital, labour force and technology. Given that most resources, goods, and services are scarce, every society has a lot of choices to be made. What goods will be produced? Which limited resources will be used to produce them? To whom will these goods and services be distributed? Since people do not have limitless supplies of wealth, they must make decisions about what goods and services to obtain and consume and whether they should save or spend.

The condition of scarcity is the main problem economics studies. Economics is a social science that studies how individuals, governments, firms and nations make choices on allocating resources to satisfy their unlimited wants.

In the process of making choices people and governments will try to economize, to get the most from what they have. Taking this fact into account we can define economics as the study of how, in a given society, choices are made in the allocation of resources to produce goods and services for consumption, and the mechanisms and principles that govern this process. In a word, economics is the science that deals with production, distribution and consumption of commodities.

The production, distribution and consumption of goods and services can be strongly influenced by government actions. The government can act to limit production of certain goods. At other times the government can encourage greater production of certain goods. Government taxes on goods entering a country can help to protect nation’s industries. Government tax policies can also affect profits made by businessmen. This, in turn, can affect many production decisions. In some parts of the world, governments make the major decisions on how goods and services are distributed.

Society makes two kinds of choices: economy-wide, or macro choices and individual, or micro choices. Reflecting the macro and micro perspectives, economics consists of two major branches: macroeconomics and microeconomics.

The old saying “Looking at the forest rather than the trees” fits macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that studies decision making for the economy as a whole. Macroeconomics examines economy-wide variables, such as inflation, unemployment, growth of economy, money supply, and national incomes.

Examining individual trees, leaves, and pieces of bark, rather than surviving the forest, illustrates microeconomics. Microeconomics is the branch of economics that studies decision making by a single individual, household, firm, industry, or level of government. The focus is on small economic issues, such as economic decisions of particular groups of consumers and businesses.

Why should we study economics? There are several very good reasons, all of which involve us. Some of them have to deal with us as individuals - spenders, some - as citizens and finally as future economists. As members of the society we live in, there is no escaping economics. The food we eat, the dwelling we live in, the clothing we wear and the way we spend our leisure time are all affected by economic forces. Economic forces also influence decisions in the world of business. In fact, one common definition of economics is “the study of how people make living”.

We have seen that economics deals with the problems of scarcity and choice faced by societies and nations throughout history, but the development of modern economics began in the 17^th century. Since that time economists have developed methods of studying and explaining how individuals, businesses and nations use their available resources. Large corporations use economics to study the ways they manage business and to suggest methods for making more efficient use of their employees, equipment, factories and other resources. The government also employs economists to study economic problems as well as solve them.

1. Answer the following questions on the contents of the text.

1. Is economics a science?

2. Who is considered to be the father of economics?

3. What is the origin of the word ‘economics’?

4. Is it difficult to define economics? What definitions of economics have you learned from the text?

5. What is the subject of economics?

6. What problems are economists concerned with?

7. Differentiate between the major divisions of economics.

8. Explain why scarcity is one of the main issues in economics.

9. What is the relationship between the government and economics?

10.What is the role of economists in the development of modern societies?

2. Read the text again and say if the following statements are true or false according to the information in the text.

1. Most economists define economics as an applied science concerned with the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services.

2. Bread, bicycles, jeans are examples of free goods.

3. Today more people work in service industries than in the production of actual goods.

4. For a country, limited resources include time, money, skills.

5. Economics is a system by which industry, trade and money are organized.

6. Microeconomicsis the branch of economics that studies decision making for the economy as a whole.

7. Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that studies decision making by a single individual, household, firm, industry, or level of the government.

 

3. Choose the right variant.

1.The subject of economics is primarily the study of:

a) the government decision making process;

b) how to operate a business successfully;

c) decision-making because of the problem of scarcity;

d) how to make money in the stock market.

2.The condition of scarcity:

a) cannot be eliminated;

b) prevails in poor economies;

c) prevails in rich economies;

d) all of the above;

e) none of the above.

3.The condition of scarcity can be eliminated if:

a) people satisfy needs rather than false wants;

b) sufficient new resources were discovered;

c) output of goods and services was increased;

d) all of the above;

e) none of the above.

4.Which of the following is included in the study of macroeconomics?

a) salaries of college professors;

b) computer prices;

c) unemployment in the nation;

d) silver prices.

5.Microeconomics approaches the study of economics from the viewpoint of:

a) individual or specific markets;

b) the national economy;

c) government units;

d) economy-wide markets

READING II

1. Read the text and focus on the following:

- a difference between wants and needs;

- economic goods;

- economic services;

- factors of production/productive resources;

- sectors in the economy;

- opportunity cost

SATISFYING PEOPLE’S WANTS

Economics is the study of how individuals and society choose to use limited resources in an effort to satisfy people's unlimited wants. It is important to point out that there is a difference between wants and needs. Needs are basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. Other so-called “needs” are really “wants”. For example, you may want new clothes, but whether or not you need them is a value judgement. Most people’s needs are limited. In contrast, people’s wants are unlimited. Satisfying such wants involves the production of economic goods and services.

Economic goods are things of value that you can see and show to the others. They are things like bicycles, books, stereos, and clothing. Economic goods also include such things as factories, stores, machines, and tools.

Economic services are intangible things that have value but often cannot be seen, touched, or shown to others. The examples of economic services are medical care, legal advice, movies and national defence.

Factors of production are also called productive resources. These are the basic resources which are needed for the production of economic goods and services. Economists divide factors of production into four basic categories: (1) natural resources, (2) capital goods, (3) labour and (4) entrepreneurship.

Natural resources are things provided by nature. Land, air, water, forests, coal, iron ore, oil, and other minerals are examples of natural resources. They are the starting points of all production, and they represent the most basic limitations of the productive capacity of an economy. In other words, no matter how much skilled labour and technological knowledge an economy has, it cannot create goods if it lacks natural resources.

Capital goods are human-made resources that are used for the production of other goods and services. Factories, machines, tools, trucks, and business buildings are all examples of capital goods.

It is important to distinguish between capital goods and consumer goods.

Consumer goods, which are not a factor of production, are finished products sold to consumers for their own personal use. They include such things as food, clothing, TV sets, and newspapers. In contrast, capital goods are things that are used in the production of consumer goods and services. A factory that manufactures TV sets is a capital good. Some things can be either consumer goods or capital goods, depending on how they are used. For example, an automobile purchased for personal use is a consumer good. However, automobiles purchased for use as taxis or for other business purposes are capital goods

Labour, sometimes called human resources, is any form of a human effort exerted in production. It includes all kinds of work. The work of a teacher, lawyer, engineer, and the governor of your state are all examples of labour. Labour is essential to production, since natural resources and capital goods are of no value unless they can be put to use.

The three factors of production described above - natural resources, capital goods and labour must be combined and organized before production can take place. This is where entrepreneurship, the fourth factor of production, enters the picture. Entrepreneurship may be defined as the function of combining and organizing natural resources, capital goods, and labour, assuming the risks of business failure, and providing the creativity and managerial skills necessary for production to take place. An entrepreneur is a person who carries out these tasks in the hope of making financial gains from the endeavour.

The economy includes several sectors (also called industries), that evolve in successive phases. Theyare the following:

• Primary sector. It involves the extraction and production of raw materials.

• Secondary sector. It involves the transformation of raw or intermediate
materials into goods.

• Tertiary sector. It involves the provision of services to consumers and
businesses.

• Quaternary sector. It involves the research and development needed to
produce products from natural resources.

Economists use the term opportunity cost to refer to the value of what is foregone in order to have something else or it is the next best alternative which is given up when a decision is made to use limited resources in a particular way. Opportunity cost is an important concept in microeconomics. Many courses of action are valued in terms of what is sacrificed so that they might be undertaken. For example, the opportunity cost of a public project is thevalue of the additional goods that the private sector would have produced with the resources used for the public project. Opportunity cost is different for each individual and nation. Thus, what is valued more than something else will vary among people and countries when decisions are made about how to allocate resources.

READING III

As you read the text, focus on the concept of "economic system" and its various types.

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

Allocating resources efficiently is complicated because there is almost always a very thorny tradeoff between what is efficient and what is "fair." People and societies organize economic life to deal with the basic problems raised by scarcity and opportunity cost through economic systems. An economic system can be described as the collection of institutions, laws, activities, controlling values, human incentives that collectively provide a framework for economic decision-making. An economic system works via the interaction of three invis­ible forces: the invisible hand (economic forces), invisible foot (political forces) and invisible handshake (social forces).

There are three basic economic questions that every nation must consider. They are (1) What goods and services shall be produced? (2) How shall they be produced? and (3) For whom shall they be produced?

Any economic system must use one or more decision-making methods or rules. Though the list of ways to make decisions is long, economic systems are classified into four broad categories. These are traditional, command, market, and mixed economies. Each of these systems works well to some degree at different points in time and for different cultures, but some are often better for answering one of the basic economic questions, while other systems may answer other questions more successfully.

Traditional economy is an economic system using social customs to answer the basic economic questions. Nowadays traditional economies are found primarily in the rural, non-industrial areas of the world, tribes in African countries, for example. In such areas, there is no national economy. Instead, there are many small segmented economies, each centered around a family or tribal unit. Each unit produces most of its own goods and consumes what it produces. The basic economic questions of "what", "how", and "for whom" are answered directly by the people involved, and the answers are usually based on tradition.

In command or planned economies the basic economic questions are answered by government officials. Command economies are characterized by government ownership of the economy's natural resources and capital goods. Government leaders decide what goods and services will be produced, how they will be produced, and how they will be distributed. Individuals have little control or influence over the way the basic economic questions are answered. There arevery few command economies left in the world, and North Korea is one of the examples. A planned economy is simple to understand but not simple to operate. It does, however, have a number of advantages:

- everyone in society receives enough goods and services toenjoy a basic standard of living;

- nationsdo not waste resources duplicating production;

- thestate canuse its control of the economy to divert resources to wherever it wants. As a result, it can ensure that everyone receives a good education, proper health care or thattransport is available.

Several disadvantages also exist. It is these disadvantages that have led to many nations abandoning planned economies over recent years:

-there is no incentive for individuals to work hard in planned economies;

- any profits that are made are paid to the government;

- citizens cannot start their own businesses and so new ideas rarely come forward;

- asa result, industries in planned economies can be very inefficient.

A major problem faced by command or planned economies is that of deciding what to produce. Command economies tend to be slow when responding to changes in people's tastes and fashions. Planners are likely to underproduce some items as they cannot predict changes in demand. Equally, some products, which consumers regard as obsolete and unattractive, may be overproduced.

A market economy or free economy is the opposite of a command economy. In a market economy basic economic questions are answered by individuals, households and businesses through a system of freely operating markets. Natural resources and capital goods are usually privately owned. In such economies buyers and sellers have a great deal of economic freedom, and they send signals to one another as they interact through the system. For example, by purchasing more of an item than usual, buyers send a signal to producers to increase production of that item. Similarly, by reducing their purchases of an item, buyers signal producers to reduce production of that item. In a true market economy the government plays no role in management of the economy, the government does not intervene in it. The system is based on private enterprise with private ownership of the means of production and private supplies of capital, which can be defined as surplus income available for investment in new business activities. Workers are paid wages by employers according to how skilled they are and how many firms wish to employ them. They spend their wages on the products and services they need. Consumers are willing to spend more on products and services, which are favoured. Firms producing these goods will make more profits and this will persuade more firms to produce these particular goods rather than less favoured ones.

Thus, we can see that in a market economy consumers decide what is to be produced. Consumers will be willing to pay high prices for products they particularly desire. Firms, which are privately owned, see the opportunity of increased profits and produce the new fashionable and favoured products.

Such a system is, at first view, very attractive. The economy adjusts automatically to meet changing demands. No planners have to be employed, which allows more resources to be available for production. Firms tend to be highly competitive in such an environment. New advanced products and low prices are good ways to increase sales and profits. Since all firms are privately owned they try to make the largest profits possible. In a free market individual people are free to pursue their own interests. They can become millionaires, for example.

Not surprisingly there are also problems. Some goods would be underpurchased if the government did not provide free or subsidized supplies. Examples of this type of good and service are health and education. There are other goods and services, such as defence and policing, that are impossible to supply individually in response to consumer spending. Once defence or a police force is supplied to a country, then everyone in this country benefits.

A cornerstone of the market system is that production alters swiftly to meet changing demands. These changes can, however, have serious consequences.

Imagine a firm, which switches from labour-intensive production to the one where new technology is employed in the factory. The resulting unemployment could lead to many social as well as economic problems.

In a market economy there might be minimal control on working conditions and safety standards concerning products and services. It is necessary to have large-scale government intervention to pass laws to protect consumers and workers.

Some firms produce goods and then advertise heavily to gain sufficient sales. Besides wasting resources on advertising, firms may also duplicate one another's services. Rival firms, providing rail services, for example, could mean that two or more systems of rail are laid.

Finally, firms have to have confidence in future sale if they are to produce new goods and services. At certain times they tend to lack confidence and cut back on production and the development of new ideas. This decision, when taken by many firms, can lead to a recession. A recession means less spending, fewer jobs and a decline in the prosperity of the nation.

There are no real economies in the world that rely solely on freely operating markets or on government decisions to answer the basic economic questions. All major economies are mixed economies. A mixed economy contains elements of both market and planned economies.Some countries are nearer to command economies, while others are closer to free market economies.

The aim of mixed economies is to avoid the disadvantages of both systems while enjoying the benefits that they both offer. So, in a mixed economy the government and the private sector interact in solving economic problems. The state controls the share of the output through taxation and transfer payments and intervenes to supply essential items such as health, education and defence, while private firms produce cars, furniture, electrical items and similar, less essential products.

 

1.Say whether the following characteristics of economic systems are typical for a)traditional economic systems, b) command economic systems, c)market economic systems.

1. Not a national economy.

2. Not government itself holds a monopoly.

3. Resources are distributed evenly, creating less socio-economic inequality.

4. “Invisible hand” is responsible for the production of goods and services, and their pricing.

5. Prices and supply of goods are controlled by the government.

6. Consumers enjoy the privilege of choosing among competitive products and services.

7. No opportunities for personal profit motives for any producer or consumer.

8. Individuals do not benefit from innovation or product development.

DEVELOPING VOCABULARY

1. Match the words listed below with the definitions that follow.

Econometrics, well-being, wealth, production, economy, seller, economist, finance, value, distribution, exchange, money, investment, banking, buyer, enterprise, income, price

1. The business engaged in by a bank.

2. A person who buys; purchaser; customer.

3. The division of the total income of a community among its members.

4. The application of mathematical and statistical techniques to economic problems and theories.

5. A specialistineconomics.

6. The complex of human activities concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
7. A business unit; a company or a firm.

8. The system by which commercial debts between parties in different places are settled by commercial documents, esp. bills of exchange, instead of by direct payment of money.

9. The system of money, credit, etc., esp. with respect to government revenues and expenditures.

10. The amount of monetary or other returns, either earned or unearned, accruing over a given period of time.
11. The act of investing money.

12. The official currency, in the form of bank-notes, 'coins, etc., issued by a government or other author­ity.

13. The cost at which anything is obtained.

14. The creation or manufacture for sale of goods and services with exchange value.

15. A person who sells.

16. The worth attached by someone to something.

17. All goods and services with monetary, exchangeable, or productive value.

18. The condition of being contented healthy or successful; welfare.

TranslateintoEnglish.

Экономика - это общественная наука, изучающая поведение в сферах производства, потребления, распределения и обмена. Экономисты анализируют происходящие в этих сферах процессы и исследуют их последствия для физических лиц, организаций, например фирм, и общества в целом. В экономической науке существует много конкурирующих между собой направлений. Однако основным делением является деление на классическую и неоклассическую школы.

В систему экономических наук входят науки, которые изучают функциональные аспекты развития экономики (финансы и кредит, ценообразование, экономика труда, материально-техническое обеспечение, планирование экономического и социального развития и др.) или ее отраслевые особенности (экономики промышленности, сельского хозяйства, транспорта и др.).

 

DISCOVERING LANGUAGE

Passive Voice

 

The Passive Voice is formed by putting the auxiliary verb “to be” into the necessary form and adding the Past Participle of the main verb. Verbs which take an object (transitive verb) can have a passive form.

Ø They destroyed the building – The building was destroyed.

Ø The news surprised me. – I was surprised by the news.

Verbs which don`t take an object (intransitive verbs) don`t have passive forms. For example, there are no passive forms for the following sentences:

Ø I slept for nearly ten hours last night.

Ø The ship slowly disappeared from view.

A good dictionary will tell you whether verbs are transitive or intransitive.

 

 

LISTENING

Import-Export

Part One

Questions 1-15

Part Two

Section Two

Questions 23-30

Ø Elena Furia, a teacher at an international school in Italy, is calling New Traditions, a sport equipment manufacturer and supplier in California, for some information.

Ø Listen again and complete these questions.

1. (23) _____________, MsFuria?

2. (24) ____________to know?

3. (25) ____________ interested in?

4. (26) ____________ to send me a quotation?

 

 

Ø Now match these answers a-e with the questions. Write your answers here.

1. (27)_______.

2. (28)_______.

3. (29) _______.

4. (30) _______.

 

a) Well, I was wondering if you had a stockiest in Italy.

b) I could give you a discount for three sets but the transportation costs could be high.

c) I`ve read the information on your website about the bike polo equipment.

d) I`ll send you a pro forma invoice.

e) I`d like to know your price for …

SPEAKING

Starting the presentation

Good morning, everyone.

Hello everyone, welcome to…

The subject of my presentation today is…

What I`m going to talk about today is…

Stating the main points

The main points I will be talking about today are firstly…, secondly…, next…, finally, we are going to look at.

I'mgoing to divide my talk into four parts.

First, I'll give you....

After that,....Finally,....

Introducing the first point

Let`s start/begin with

I`d like to start by…

Moving on to the next point

Now let`s move on to…

Referring to visuals

If you look at the graph..

Could I draw your attention to the chart?

I`d like to illustrate this by showing you…

Changing the topic

Right, let’s move on to…

O.K., I’ll now look at…

Summarising

To sum up,...

I`d like to recap the main points of my presentation.

First I covered…, then we talked about… and finally we looked at…

I`d now like to sum up the main points, which were…

Ending

Thanks very much. Any questions/

Well, that’s all I have to say. Thank you for listening.

Inviting questions

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to

ask.

I'llbe glad to answer any questions (at the

end of my talk).

Finally, I will be happy to answer your questions.

 

A.Make a presentation on countries with different economic systems. Focus on:

1. Geographical position.

2. Political system.

3. Economic system.

4. Current economic situation.

5. World-known business companies based in the country if there are any.

B. Listen to your fellow-students' presentations. After each presentation rate the following aspects of the presentation from 1 to 5 (1 = unacceptable, 2 = fair, 3 = average, 4 = good, 5 = excellent).

 

The presentation was interesting.
The presentation was clear.
The presentation's beginning made an impact.
The presentation had a logical manner structure.
The presentation had a summary or conclusion.
TOTAL: 25

C.Discuss the following questions.

1. Do you agree that economics is helpful in everyday life? Give your arguments.

2. Try to think of several important decisions that you have made recently. What
was the opportunity cost of each decision?

3. Do you think economics is a theoretical or applied discipline?

4. Imagine the world without a problem of scarcity. Would you enjoy living insuch a world?

5. Are there any countries with traditional economies nowadays?

6. Is it correct to say that all major economies in the world are market economies?

7. How can you define the economic system of Belarus?

 

WRITING

Write an essay of at least 500 words describing economics and its major concepts.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

ADAM SMITH

Economics, like every other intellectual discipline, has its roots in early Greece and Rome; but economics was first considered as a branch of domestic science (home economics) dealing with such matters as the management of slaves and the allocation of manure among alternative agricultural uses. In the revival of learning that followed the Middle Ages, economics emerged as a branch of moral philosophy concerned with such issues as the ethics of loan interest and the “justness” of market-determined wages and prices.

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the subject had lost most of its theological overtones and had taken shape as an academic discipline, largely as a branch of political theory dealing with problems of government intervention in economic affairs.

Then in 1776 the Scottish moral philosopher Adam Smith published the first edition of «Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations», and economics soon became an independent science.

The Vision of Adam Smith

Smith lived in an age when the right of rulers to impose arbitrary and oppressive restrictions on the political and economic liberties of their subjects was coming under strong attack throughout the civilized world. As other men of that time were arguing that democracy could and should replace autocracy in the sphere of politics, so Adam Smith argued that laissez-faire could and should replace government direction and regulation in economics. The “should” was so mixed with the “could” portion of Smith's analysis that much of his book seemed almost as much a political tract as a work of science. What gave the book lasting significance was the Smith's strong arguments that the economic activities of individuals would be more effectively coordinated through the indirect and impersonal action of natural forces of self-interest and competition than through the direct and frequently ill-considered actions of government authorities. Smith opened minds to the existence of a “grand design” in economic affairs similar to that which Newton had earlier shown, to exist in the realm of phy­sical phenomena. The impact of Smith's ideas upon his contemporaries was widespread and immediate. As one modern scientist observed,“before Adam Smith there had been much economic discussion; with him we reach the stage of discussing economics”.

That Smith's vision of the economy should ever have been considered original might seem strange to modern minds, but that would be because we now see economic phenomena in the light of his conception. As two leading scholars recently remarked.The immediate “common sense answer to the question”, “What will an economy motivated by greed and controlled by a large number of different agents look like?”is probably: there will be chaos”. That is certainly the answer that would have been given by most of Smith's contemporaries - before they read his book. The greatness of Smith's accomplish­ment lies precisely in the fact that he, unlike his predecessors, was able to think away extraneous complica­tions and so perceive an order in economic affairs that common sense did not reveal.

It is one thing, of course, to say that Smith's concep­tion of economic phenomena is original, another – to sug­gest that it corresponds to contemporary experience. According to Smith, society in its economic aspect is a vast concourse of people held together by the desire of each to exchange goods and services with others. Each person is concerned directly only to further his own self-interest, but in pursuing that aim each “is led by invisible hand” to promote the interests of others. For­bidden by law and social custom to acquire the property of other people by force, fraud, or stealth, each person attempts to maximize his own gains from trade by spe­cializing in the production of goods and services for which he has a comparative advantage, trading part of his pro­duce for the produce of others on the best terms he can obtain. As a consequence, the “natural forces” of mar­ket competition — the result of each person attempting to “buy cheap and sell expensive” — come into play to estab­lish equality between demand and supply for each com­modity at rates of exchange (prices).

The economic system (so Smith and later writers argued) is a self-regulating mechanism that, like the human body, tends naturally toward a state of equilibrium if left to itself.

Vocabulary

allocationofmanure-зд. распределение органических удобрений

revival, n - возрождение, возобновление

emerge - появляться, всплывать

intervention - вмешательство

affair, n - дело

impose, v - налагать

arbitrary -произвольный

restrictions -ограничения

argue, v - спорить

laissez-faire -невмешательство

significance, n - значимость, значительность

ill-considered -необдуманный

perceive, v - воспринимать

reveal, v - обнаруживать, открывать

acquire, v - приобретать

fraud, n - мошенничество

stealth, n - кража

consequence, n - последствие

 

Vocabulary

self-organizing - самоорга­низующаяся

self-adjusting — саморегули­рующаяся

latterly- недавно, в после­днее время

confirm, v - подтверждать

lawsofmotion- законы движения

advanced - развитой, про­грессивный

prominent- выдающийся

evidence- свидетельство

fullemployment- полная занятость

dispute, v - спорить, оспаривать

notion- понятие

merit- достоинство

knockout, v - выбросить

valid- действительный

lockjaw- столбняк

apparently- по всей видимости

wistful–тоскливый

 

Questions for discussion.

1. Was the Great Depression the only reason for Keynes' criticism? Do we have to wait till the next crisis to come up with the new theory or it could be proved experimentally?

2. Why did it take 150 years for economists to realize that Smith's theory was not correct?

3. Do you agree with the author that the “great worry” is that there is a lack of professional competence to make valid diagnoses? Is it a problem of economics as a science?

СLASSICAL LIBERALISM

In the seventeenth century, liberalism emerged as the radical philosophy that attacked authoritarianism and paternalism in the political sphere by defending the rights of the individual against the commands of monarchs and other rulers. The seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke questioned claims to political authority based on birth, social status, privilege, and divine right. Political authority either derived from the consent of the governed or else was illegitimate.

Later in the eighteenth century, liberals added the notion of the “rule of law”, the idea that the government in its legislative capacity had to enact generalrules that apply to all citizens equally. The substitution of the rule of people for the rule of law created a capricious, uncertain, and sometimes cruel community life. This early variety of liberalism — often termed “classical liberalism” — stimulated the development of the social sciences by insisting that what holds society together and promotes an orderly commercial economy is the mutual interplay of the passions and interests of ordinary citizens in the market.

The basic principle of liberal thought is that individuals are the best and most accurate judges of their own interests and can berelied upon to pursue those interests with great dedication and creativity. The mighty arm of the state with its web of regulations and bureaucratic agents often does more harm than good when trying to substitute administrative methods of organization for impersonal market processes that spring out of self-interested individual action.

The philosopher and American revolutionary, Thomas Paine, wrote that “society is created by our wants, government by our wickedness”.

Classical liberals are not anarchists and at the very least recommend a minimal state: a state that protects lives, defines property rights, and enforces private contracts. Many classical liberals (such as Adam Smith and the later classical school of economists) went somewhat further and requested that the state builds and maintains certain public works (bridges, canals, highways, harbors, recreational parks, and so on), maintainsstanding armies, provides basic education, promotesinvention and innovation, and intervenes in the market on a limited scale for specific humane purposes such as the enactment and enforcement of child labor laws.

Generally, the classical liberal believes in the general rule of laissez-faire and wants to preserve self-regulating market processes as much as possible. The classical liberal is confident that with the enactment of strict constitutional safeguards and the elimination of monopoly and the never-ending varieties of special-interest legislation, peace and material progress are within the reach of all societies and all social classes.

The leading works of classical liberalism include Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), Herbert Spencer's TheMan versus the State (1892), Friedrich A. Hayek's Constitution of Liberty (1960), Ludwig von Mises's Liberalism: A Socio-Economic Exposition (1962), and Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom (1962).

Vocabulary

authoritarianism - авторитаризм

rulers - правители

privilege - привилегия

divineright- божественное право

derived- производное

illegitimate- не легитимный

enact - вводить

capricious – капризный, прихотливый

relyon (upon), v - полагаться на кого-либо (что-либо)

springout- происходить из

wickedness - злоба

harbor - бухта

recreationalparks- парки отдыха

intervene - вмешиваться

enforce, v -принуждать, заставлять, настаивать

confident–уверенный

Questions for discussion.

1. Do you agree that classical liberalism “stimulated the development of social sciences”?

3. Can you agree with Thomas Paine that“society is created by our wants”?

NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS

The most remarkable feature of neoclassical economics is that it reduces many broad categories of market phenomena to considerations of individual choice and, in this way, suggeststhat the science of economics can be firmly grounded on the basic individual act of subjectively choosing among alternatives.

Neoclassical economics began with the so-called marginalist revolution in value theory that emerged toward the end of the nineteenth century. Strictly speaking, neoclassical economics is not a school of thought (in the sense of a well-defined group of economists following a single great master) but more a loose amal­gam of subschools of thought, each revolving around such acknowledged masters as Alfred Marshall in England, Leon Walras in France, and Carl Menger in Austria. What these subschools have in common is the importance they attach to explaining the coordinating features of market processes in terms of plans and subjective evaluations carried out by individuals in the market subject to the constraints of technological knowledge, social custom and practice, and scarcity of resources.

THE SUBSCHOOLS

In England, Marshall's appointment to the chair of political economy at CambridgeUniversity in 1885 marked the start of the Cambridge school – a variant of neoclassical economics that stressed continuity with the past achievements of the classical school, especially the economics of David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill. In 1890 Marshall published his“ Principles of Economics ”which demonstrated how the forces that determine the normal prices of commodities can be explained by means of supply and demand in the context of firms struggling to survive within industries. Marshall's disciplines included A. C. Pigou, D. H. Robertson, Ralph Hawtrey, and to some extent the controversial John Maynard Keynes. (During the 1930s, Keynes turned against his old master by explaining how subjective evaluations can lead to discoordinating market processes and the unemployment of labor and disuse of capital.)

In France, Walras founded the general equilibrium school with the publication of his “ Elements of Pure Economics ”(1874). This school would eventually take root in Lausanne, Switzerland, through the contributions of Vilfredo Pareto, especially in his“ Coursd' economic politique ”(1896—1897). Some of Walras's teaching reached England by way of A. L. Bowley's“ Mathematical Groundwork of Economics ”(1924). Like Marshall, Walrasand his followers were concerned with a supply and demand account of market pricing, but Walras went somewhat beyond Marshall and investigated the mathematical conditions under which all markets could be in equilibrium simultaneously.

In Austria, Carl Menger founded the Austrian school with the publication of his “ Principles of Economics ”(1871).

Subsequent professors at the University of Vienna, such as Friedrich von Wieser, Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk, and later Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich A. von Hayek, focused on the essential problems of economic organization by starting with Monger's insights about the importance of economizing action in shaping economic institutions in the market. Among Austrians, the important task of economic reasoning is to disaggregate economic pheno­mena so that the events can be made intelligible in terms of basic market forces of supply and demand operating through the decisions of individuals.

Vocabulary

remarkablefeature -отличительнаячерта

befirmlygrounded - твердоосновыватьсяначем-либо

acknowledged -подтверждать, признавать

attach- прикреплять, прилагать

strugglingtosurvive - борьба за существование

controversial - противоречивый

simultaneously - одновременно

subsequent - последующий

disaggregateeconomicpheno­mena – расчленять(нить) экономическиеявления

Questions for discussion.

1. Do you agree with the author that “the most remarkable feature of neoclassical economics is that it reduces many broad categories of market phenomena to considerations of individual choice”? Why yes and why not?

2. Do you think that neoclassical economics is a “loose amalgam of subschools of thought”?

3.Whose works are of the most importance for the development of economics?

Reference Literature

1. English for Business. A Functional Approach. DP Publications LTD, 1995.

2. Horner, D. Words at Work / D. Horner, P. Strutt. CUP, 1998.

3. Jones, L. International Business English / L. Jones, R. Alexander. CUP, 1994.

4. Mac Kenzie, I. English for Business Studies / I. Mac Kenzie. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

5. MacConner, C. Macroeconomics / C. MacConnel, S. Brue. McGraw-Hill, Inc, 1990.

6. Mankiw, N. Rssentials of Economics / N. Gregory Mankiew. Harcourt College Publishers, 2001.

7. Market Leader. Intermediate Business English Course. David Cotton, David Falvey, Simon Kent, OxfordUniversity Press, 2003.

 

 

КирильчикТ.К.

 

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

 

Введениевэкономику

 

 

Минск 2016

 

 

А в т о р:Кирильчик Т.К.

 

Р е ц е н з е н т: Родион С.К.

 

Р е к о м е н д о в а н о кафедрой теории и практики английской речи БГЭУ

 

 

Кирильчик Т.К.

 

Введение в экономику = IntroductiontoEconomics: Электронноеучеб.-метод. пособие (ЭУМИ) / Т.К.Кирильчик. – Минск: БГЭУ, 2014. – 56 с., (1,9 печ. листов).

 

Учебно-методическое пособие содержит тексты для изучающего и ознакомительного чтения, лексический материал, комплекс упражнений и заданий для формирования англоязычных коммуникативных навыков студентов в рамках темы «Экономика как наука» по дисциплине «Иностранный язык (английский)». Предназначено для студентов БГЭУ дневной формы обучения.

WHATISECONOMICS?

GETTING STARTED

1. Read the following quotations about economics and choose one or more you like most of all.What do you think the authors mean by these statements? Express your own ideas to support or refute the author’s view.

1. Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses (Lionel Robbins - English economist, 1898-1984).

2. Economics is a subject that does not greatly respect one's wishes (Nikita Khrushchev- Soviet state man, 1894-1971).

3. I am not prepared to accept the economics of a housewife (Jacques Chirac - French politician, 1932).

4. If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion (George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist, 1856-1950).

5. He who will not economize will have to agonize (Confucius, 551-479 BC).

USEFUL VOCABULARY

advanced economy — развитаяэкономика

allocate, v - р