History of Money
At different periods of time and in different parts of the world many different commodities have served as money. These commodities were: cattle, sheep, furs, leather, fish, tobacco, tea, salt, shells etc. The experts underline that to serve effectively as money, a commodity should be fairly durable, easily divisible, and portable. None of the above-mentioned commodities possessed all these qualities, and in time they were replaced by precious metals. First they were replaced by silver and later by gold.
When a payment was made the metal was first weighed out. The next stage was the cutting of the metal into pieces of definite weight and so coins came into use.
Paper money first came into use in the form of receipls given by goldsmiths in exchange for deposits of silver and gold coins. After goldsmiths became bankers their receipts became banknotes. That's how the first banknotes came into existence.
Ex. 23. a) Read the text aloud.
Look up the words you do not know in the dictionary.
Translate the italicised sentence in writing.
Say what macroeconomics deals with. Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is a branch of econom ics concerned with the analysis of the economy in the large, It deals with such large aggregates as the total production, total employment, the rate of economic growth, saving and investment, the national income and so on.
Macroeconomics measures and analyses overall economic activity.
An important task of macroeconomics is to develop ways of aggregating, i.e. ways of bringing together от summing primary data. To this end such concepts as gross domestic product (GDP), aggregate demand, aggregate supply and the national income were developed. For example, the national income is an aggregate, in contrast with the income of an individual.
Macroeconomics is concerned with such major policy issues as the attainment and maintenance of lull employment and price stability.
Grammar Revision
Страдательный залог (The Passive Voice)
Ex. 24. a) Open the brackets using the verbs in the correct form, b) Explain why money is a store of value, c) Explain what is "legal tender".
80
Unit 2
I. Income and Spending
81
Money
AH values in the economic system ... (to measure) in terms of money Our goods and services ...(to sell) for money, and that money is in tuni exchanged for other goods and services. Coins are adequate for small transactions, while paper notes... (/оше) for general business. Originally, a valuable metal — gold, silver or copper —served as a constant store of value, and even today the American dollar is technically "backed" by the store of gold which the US government maintains. Because gold has been universally regarded as a very valuable metal for many years, national currencies... (to judge) in teiras of the so-called "gold standard".
Nowadays, however, valuable metal has generally been replaced by paper notes. National currencies ... (to consider) to be as strong as the national economies which support them. Paper notes... (to issue) by governments and authorised banks, and are known as "legal tender". Other arrange me nts such as cheques and money orders are not legal tender. They are known as "instruments of credit".
Words and word combinations you may need
bach
v
— по.цперживать
authorised
bank —
уполномоченный
банк
legal
tender
—
законное платежное
средство
cheque
n
— чек
money
order
—
платежное поручение
in terms of money — в денежном выражении
adequate ail/ — подходящий, соответствующий
transaction n — сделка
Social
English
At
a Theatre
A.: Can
I get tickets for tonight's show?
В.: Yes,
there are seats in the stalls, but they are very expensive.
A.: Have
you got anything cheaper?
В.: Only
if somebody cancels. The play is very popular.
A
В.: Well,
we have seats in the first row ...
A.: I
suppose there's nothing further back, is there?
В.: No,
I'm
afraid you've left it rather late.
A.: I
see. Then I'll have two seats in the first row for Sunday night.
В.: Here
you are.
.: Are
there any seats left for Sunday night?