Combine these pairs of sentences in the two ways shown in the example.

EXAMPLE: The government has set up an official committee.

This committee must decide national economic policy.

1. The government has set up an official committee, which must decide national economic policy.

2. The government has set up an official committee to decide national economic policy.

a) The economists have organized a commission. This commission must study the economic problems of Latin America.

b) The workers have demanded an investigation. This investigation must find out what happened in the factory.

c) The trade unions have asked for a new plan. This plan must regulate the flow of work.

d) The government has proposed a new scheme. This scheme must come into operation next year.

e) The employers have prepared a special scheme. This scheme must be approved by the government.

15. Arrange these sentences in order to make a logical paragraph about the National Economic Development Council:

a) It meets regularly, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.

b) Each committee is concerned with an individual industry and is composed of members from management, the trade unions, government committees and three independent members.

c) The NEDC, which was set up in 1962, brings together representatives of government, management and the trade unions, and provides a meeting place for the discussion of future policy and planning.

d) The EDCs study measures to improve efficiency and competitive power in each industry.

e) Other members are the ministers of the main economic departments of the government, representative of management and trade unions and the nationalized industries, independent members and other interested people.

f) The NEDC has set up twenty-one Economic Development Committees.

16. WHAT-section. Translate the following sentences:

- What nationalized industries in the public sector of Ukraine do you know?

- Українська залізна дорога, Укрпошта, Укртелеком є державною власністю.

- What type of economy does Ukraine have now?

- В Україні економіка змішаного типу.

- What giant companies does the private sector of Ukraine include?

- Існує багато крупних телевізійних, промислових та авіакомпаній, якими володіють приватні особи.

- What body in Ukraine is known as the body planning national economic policy?

- Міністерство Економіки України.

17. Study the table. It shows how words can be formed by adding first the suffix - ify, and then the suffix - cation (with suitable changes in spelling). Use the table to complete the following sentences.

EXAMPLE: simple ® simplify ® simplification

simple note pure class clear (= clar –)

ify   ification

a) This plan is not simple enough. We must therefore ______ it. The _____ of the plan is essential.

b) The economy of that country belongs in the Marxist group or class. We must therefore ______ it as socialist. The ______ of the economy of that country is not difficult.

c) That water is not pure enough. It is necessary to ______ it. The ______ of the water is a matter of public health.

d) Please send a note to the members of the Council. You should ______ them of the date of the next meeting. The ______ should reach them this week.

e) The economics teacher tried to make the situation clear. He tried to _______ his description by making it simpler. When he had made this ______, his students understood the whole matter much better.

18. Complete the following sentences with suitable words:

national (adj.), nation (n.), nationalize (v.), nationalism (n.), nationalist (n.)

a) The USA is the homeland of the American ________.

b) Most countries have ______ banks, such as the Bank of England.

c) The Socialist Party has plans to ______ various privately owned industries.

d) In the last twenty years ______ has been a strong political force leading to the formation of many new nations.

e) A person who is interested in the progress and history of his own country may be called a ______.

19. Translate into English:

1. У світі існує багато розвинутих та слаборозвинутих капіталістичних і соціалістичних держав. Вони різні за ідеологією, але більшість з них мають змішану економіку.

2. Багато видатних промисловців досягли своєї мети, завдяки економічній політиці, яку проводить уряд.

3. Підйом та кризи виробництва існують у кожній країні? Так, жодна держава не може цього уникнути, навіть така розвинута, як США. Економіка кожної країни має циклічний шлях розвитку

4. Голова нашого підприємства планував співпрацювати з чеськими виробниками, але політичні зміни вплинули на цей план несподіваним чином.

5. Коли виробники приватного підприємства знизили якість до мінімуму, Рада з Національного Економічного Розвитку заборонила продаж цього товару на території країн Європейського Союзу.

6. Дуже важко планувати наперед виробництво в економіці змішаного типу.

7. Багатьом людям подобається працювати у приватному секторі економіки, тому що там заробітна платня вище та умови праці краще.

20. Extend the idea:

a) A mixed economy possesses some of the qualities that the two main economic systems have.

b) Public sector differs greatly from the private one.

c) It is impossible to plan ahead in any economic system.

21. Write 300 words on the topic “Mixed economies”. Use the material provided in the texts and exercises.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Why are under-developed nations interested in long-term planning?

2. What can affect the economy?

ROLE-PLAY

Work as a group. Each of you is the President of X-land. (You may choose any country you like). You are going to take part in the global AGM presenting the economic system of the chosen country. Spend a few minutes thinking over what you will say. Prove that your country’s economic system is so successful.

Use the following expressions while talking:

Let me introduce myself.

My name is …

As you know …

I think …/ In my opinion …/It seems to me

On the one hand … on the other hand

However …

To sum up …

Thanks very much. Any questions?

VOCABULARY

English	Ukrainian	Russian
To affect (v.)	впливати	влиять
To classify (v.)	класифікувати	классифицировать
Free enterprise	приватне підприємництво	частное предпринимательство
Distinction (n.)	розходження	различие
Eminent (adj.)	видатний	выдающийся
Giant companies	гігантські компанії	гигантские компании
To guide	керувати	руководить
Leading (adj.)	ведучий	ведущий
Long-term planning	довгострокове планування	долгосрочное планирование
Mixed economy	змішана економіка	экономика смешанного типа
National Economic Development Council	Рада з національного економічного розвитку	Совет по национальному экономическому развитию
National production	національне виробництво	национальное производство
Nationalized industry	націоналізована промисловість	национализированная промышленность
Natural disaster	стихійне лихо	стихийное бедствие
To plan ahead	планувати наперед	планировать на будущее
Production targets	виробничі цілі	производственные цели
Public and private sectors of the economy	громадський та приватний сектори економіки	общественный и частный секторы экономики
Rigidly	строго	строго
To set up an official planning body	заснувати офіційний планувальний орган	учредить официальный орган по планированию
Trade Union Congress	Профспілка	Профсоюз
Under-developed countries	слаборозвинуті країни	слаборазвитые страны

UNIT 7

Revision and conclusion

People work to earn a living; they produce goods or provide services. Some people provide both goods and services.

The work people do is called economic activity. All economic activities taken together make up the economic system of a town, a city, a country or the world. Such an economic system is the sum-total of what people do and what they want. The work people do either provides what they need or provides the money with which they can buy essential commodities. Of course, most people hope to have enough money to buy non-essential commodities and services but which provide some particular personal satisfaction.

The science of economics is based upon the facts of our everyday lives. Economists study our everyday lives and the general life of our communities. Moreover they try to understand the whole economic system of which we are part. They describe the facts of the economy in which we live in order to explain how it works. The economist’s methods should of course be strictly objective and scientific.

We need food, clothes and shelter. We can’t live without these basic needs. However if we have them without working, we probably will not work at all. But even when we have all essential commodities, we may still want other things to make our life more enjoyable.

Human beings undoubtedly have a wide and very complex range of wants. The science of economics is concerned with all our needs: essential and non-essential.

So far we have suggested that economic systems are the same everywhere. This is not entirely true. The economic system of the USA differs greatly from the system in China. The American system is based on private enterprise and is essentially capitalist, while the Chinese system is socialist and is based on the principles of Karl Marx.

Britain is similar to the USA. It has an economic system based on private enterprise and private supplies of capital. An important form of capital is surplus income available for investment in new business activities. Individual citizens in capitalist countries can own private property and these citizens exercise considerable economic freedom of choice. However, they must obey the law. Otherwise, they can use their time, money and energy as they wish. If a person can do this, then economists say that he is economically free. In all communities, of course, limits are imposed upon personal freedom, limits which are sometimes very complex.

Complete economic freedom of action can create great difficulties, because the freedoms exercised by various individuals inevitably conflict. If citizens were completely free, some landowners might build factories in unsuitable places, while some factory owners might make their employees work too long each day. If they were completely free, workers might stop working when they got their first pay, and come back only when they needed more money. Such economic anarchy could create instability in the entire economy of the country.

Laws which relate to economic conditions are sometimes concerned with contracts between employers and employees. Sometimes they are concerned with workers’ health, wages and pensions, and sometimes with the location of places of work. Sometimes they pro­tect the interests principally of the workers, while at others they may be beneficial to the employers. The government policy towards both employees and employers will depend very much upon the political and economic ideology which the government adopts, and may be biased towards employers and capital on the one hand, or workers and the problems of labour on the other.

In states which have a socialist system, private property and private enterprise are reduced to a minimum. They exist, but are limited to a small area of the economy. Socialism in theory states that all property should belong to the state. In practice, however, the citizens of states like the former USSR are permitted to have personal effects.

The important thing about the command economy is central plan­ning. The state organizes the whole economic effort of the nation. The central authority with complete power decides what goods and services to produce. The authority decides what quantities of goods to produce, and also controls their quality, and decides where they will go and what prices to charge for them. Addi­tionally, the state provides all (or most of) the services which the citizens require. It is responsible for the economy and is therefore concerned with methods of production as well as quality and quantity.

Command economies are planned. The system is related to the needs of the state as a whole, not the needs of the private person. The emphasis is collective and not individual, so that the individual is subordinated to the needs of the collective state.

The central authority in socialist countries performs the function of the price system in capitalist economies. Under capitalism the prices of goods and services are related to supply and demand. The system operates freely, dependent upon the quantities available and what people want. Therefore we say that in private enterprise systems the production of goods tends to follow price movements, to rise when prices rise and fall when prices fall. This rise and fall is not however normal in socialist countries. The control exercised by the state prevents any such fluctuation of prices. Government planners under socialism therefore know what goods are available and what prices to charge, but economists in non-socialist systems do not always know this. No state today is completely communist or completely capitalist. The various national economic systems tend towards one type or the other, but many are difficult to classify. It has been found necessary in many countries to exercise some degree of control over national, economic conditions, and under-developed nations particularly are interested in long-term plans. Countries like India make a clear distinction between the public sector and the private sector of their economy and so has a system called a mixed economy.

Britain today has a mixed economy too. In the public sector there are the nationalized industries while in the private sector there are the majority of the nation’s private industries from giants down to small family businesses. The British government has set up the National Economic Development Council, helps to plan national production and set up production targets. Representatives of both the employers’ federations and the TUC, members of the government, eminent industrialists and leading economists are among the members of the NEDC.

But it’s impossible to plan ahead in any economy as far as natural disasters, political changes and other factors can affect these plan in unexpected ways.

I. Choose the right answer:

1. Most people are employed to

a) spend time;

b) have some particular personal satisfaction;

c) earn money;

d) help other people.

2. … make our life more pleasant.

a) Games

b) Food, clothes and shelter

c) Limits

d) Non-essentials

3. Capitalist economic systems are based upon

a) private ownership of the means of production;

b) surplus income;

c) public property;

d) considerable economic freedom of choice.

4. Complete economic freedom could cause

a) reduction of prices;

b) instability in the whole economic system;

c) creating of new working places;

d) development of industry.

5. The government adopts economic laws which are concerned with…

a) interests of authorities;

b) interests of foreign countries;

c) interests of both employers and employees;

d) likes and dislikes of political parties.

6. To produce 100,000 grey XXL coats every year is typical for …

a) a mixed economy;

b) a command economy;

c) a market economy;

d) any economy.

7. Fluctuations of prices depend on

a) supply and demand;

b) quality and quantity of goods;

c) economic ideology of the country;

d) the exchange rate.

8. In the countries with mixed economic systems the authorities

a) decide what quantities of goods to produce;

b) have very few economic functions;

c) organize the whole economic effort of the nation;

d) control and regulate national economic conditions.

9. Mr Smith’s cattle farm belongs to the

a) public sector of British economy;

b) NEDC;

c) private sector of British economy;

d) oil industry.

10. It is impossible to plan ahead with any certainty in the mixed economy because of

a) a wide and very complex range of people’s wants;

b) natural and political changes;

c) limited natural resources;

d) instability and unemployment.

II. Say what is true and what is false. Correct the false sentences:

A. If in the same garage you may buy a car or some service, which helps you maintain the car, it means that people working in the garage provide both goods and services.

B. Most people usually work to buy essential commodities.

C. The science of economics is concerned with all human material needs and wants.

D. Both American and British economic systems are capitalist. So they are based on the governmental control of land, labour and capital.

E. If individual citizens who live in the socialist country obey the law, they can have private property.

F. The country whose economic system is based on private enterprise with private ownership of the means of production is neither communist nor capitalist.

G. All individual citizens are required to conform to the laws made by their government.

H. Such developed countries as the USA and Great Britain have a mixed economy nowadays.

I. Food production and distribution are in the public sector of the national economy.

J. The members of the National Economic Development Council are responsible for planning national policies.

III. Translate into English:

1. Більшість людей працюють, щоб заробити собі на життя та виробляють товари та послуги.

2. У соціалістичних державах центральний уряд вирішує, яку кількість товарів треба виробляти.

3. За гроші ми можемо купувати товари першої необхідності та додаткові товари, які надають особисте задоволення.

4. Наше суспільство досягло значного розвитку в економіці і має різноманітне коло бажань.

5. Крім необхідних товарів ми намагаємося забезпечити себе ще й іншими, достатньо важливими для нас товарами та послугами.

6. Нам усім потрібні їжа, одяг та житло. Ми можемо одержати всі ці товари першої необхідності та задовольнити усі наші потреби, якщо в нас буде достатньо здоров'я, якщо ми будемо мати роботу, отримувати заробітну плату або пенсію.

7. Народне господарство – це система, у якій ми живемо, а економіка – це наука, яка пояснює як працює ця система та вивчає наші матеріальні потреби.

8. У більшості випадків закони про економічні умови стосуються здоров’я, заробітної плати, та пенсій робочих. У інших випадках вони захищають інтереси роботодавця, тобто є вигідними для нього.

9. Економічна діяльність – це праця, яку виконують люди. Вона складає економічну систему, яка є сукупністю того, що люди роблять і чого вони хочуть.

10. У будь-якій економіці неможливо планувати заздалегідь, тому що стихійні лиха та політичні зміни можуть призвести до економічної нестабільності.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14