Word Combinations

cost accounting – хозрасчет, калькуляция стоимости

dope peddler – уличный торговец наркотиками

the monetary expression – денежное выражение

material means – материальные средства

as a whole – в целом

commodity production – товарное производство

first of all – прежде всего

division of labour – разделение труда

sale and purchase – продажа и покупка

value of the commodity – стоимость товара, товарная стоимость

4. Fill in each blank with the appropriate word.

Price is always being formed from ... and profit. What is ... of this equipment? The term ... is one of the notions of economics. His project made ... of 50000 rubles. ... is determined by the value of the materials used plus expenditure on equipment, power, wages and so on.

the price a profit cost commodity production cost

B. Reading Comprehension

4. Read Тext a and find the answers for the following questions:

1. Does money have a smell?

2. Is profit as an excess of income over outlay an invention of socialism?

3. Does the notion «profit» acquire a fundamentally new social content at present?

Text A. Profit

Profit as an excess of income over outlay is not the invention of socialism. It existed long before its birth and was often damned (обсуждалось) as an expression of insatiable lust (ненасытной страсти) for gain and ruthless exploitation. But the whole point is, how it is obtained, and in whose interests it is used.

You will agree that there is a difference between the money «earned» by a dope peddler and the money a peasant, or a worker receives for his honest labour. It is not true that money has no smell. It does have a smell – a social one.

Hence, we cannot speak of profit «in general». In economics such talk is meaningless (бессмысленный) and leads to errors. As one socio-economic system gives way to another, some economic categories acquire a fundamentally new social content while retaining their form and name, as has been the case with profit. To repeat, everything depends on how profit is made, and whose interests it is used.

4. Read Тext b and choose the sentence which best expresses the main idea of the text.

Text B. What is Commodity?

The commodity is a product of labour made for exchange (обмен). Commodity production is a type of economic organization of society in which products are made for sale rather than for consumption (потребление) by the producers themselves.

For products of labour to become commodities, it is necessary, first of all, to have a division of labour whereby a person produces not everything he needs for his own consumption but specializes in some one kind of production. Secondly, the means of production must be owned by individuals or groups of individuals. When these two conditions exist (существуют), the sale and purchase of commodities become an economic necessity.

When we compare and evaluate commodities we are actually comparing the amount of labour contained in them. The labour embodied (воплощенный) in a commodity determines (определяет) the value of the commodity. Labour itself is not value. It only takes on a value when commodities are produced for exchange.

1. The text deals with the value.

2. The text is about commodity production and division of labour.

3. The text describes the commodity as a product of labour made for exchange and the conditions under which products of labour become commodities.

C. Test