Тексты для самостоятельного чтения и перевода на русский язык Текст № 1

TYPES OF ECONOMICS SYSTEMS

Every society has worked out a way to answer the main economic questions:

- What goods and services are to be produced?

- How are these goods and services to be produced?

- Who will receive these goods and services?

Consequently, there are three main economic systems: traditional, command and market economy.

THE TRADITIONAL ECONOMY. As the name implies, the answers to these questions are decided by tradition. Typically, in a traditional economy most of the people live in rural areas and are engaged in agriculture or other activities such as fishing and hunting. The goods and services produced in such a system are those that have been produced for many years of even generations. In short, the question of what the traditional society produces are determined by slowly changing traditions.

THE COMMAND ECONOMY. It is the planners who decide what goods and services will be produced, and who will receive the goods and services produced. By setting wage rates as well as interest rates, profits and rents, the planners directly answer the questions “Who will receive the goods and services?”

THE MARKET ECONOMY. A market or free enterprise economy is the one in which the decisions of many buyers and sellers interact to determine the answers to the questions: what, how and who.

There are several other essential elements in a market economy. One of them is private property. By “private property” we usually mean the right of individuals and business firms to own the means of production. Private ownership gives people the incentive to use their property to produce things that will sell and earn them a profit. This desire to earn profit is a second element of the market economy often referred to as the motive profit.

Текст № 2

ESSENTIALS OF MARKETING

To an economist, everything that takes place between production and consumption falls into the category of marketing. Marketing includes the activities that bring the buyer and seller together.

The essentials of a firms marketing include the ability to determine the needs of customers and to maintain an effective marketing mix satisfies the customers’ needs.

What is the marketing mix? The marketing mix is made up of four components. There are:

Product: the firm has to identify what products can be produced to meet consumer wants more successfully.

Price: a firm has to decide on its pricing policy, for list prices, discount for bulk - buying and interest – free credit. A low price may make consumers suspicious or the low price may be considered as a bargain. It the price of the product is too high then the company may be pricing itself out of the market. It the price of a product is higher than what competitors are charging then it must be justified in some way, e. q. because the quality of the product is higher.

Promotion: this means choosing methods that can generate sales of the product. Possibilities here include advertising, personal selling, publicity and other promotional work.

Place: the product has to be in the correct place in order to stimulate sales. Exactly where a firm decides to sell its product will depend on the nature of the product.

The period of time over which a product appeals to customers is called the product life cycle. The length of this product life cycle differs from product to product and depends on its nature.