Английский язык для специальных целей в экономической сфере. Практикум для студентов-магистров

“It’s looking like a modest deficit in an economy that’s been

shut down for months,” he added.

Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1.Irish GDP is projected to increase by 2.3 per cent this year.

2.GDP figure is an indication of the changes in living standards of Irish people.

3.Ireland saw some increase in consumer spending and output in such sectors as tourism and retail because our Covid-19 restrictions were more strict and longer than other European countries.

4.Modified domestic demand in Ireland is expected to shrink by around 6 per cent.

5.Unemployment peaked at 28 per cent in April and it was at 20.2 per cent in October as a new six-week lockdown was imposed.

6.Almost 103,000 people are jobless in wholesale and retail, 57,000 in the accommodation and food service sectors and 31,000 in hair and beauty salons.

7.This month the government has paid €80m in subsidies to 19,200 employers, helping sustain 170,800 jobs.

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Text 3. BITCOIN SURGES PAST $20,000 FOR FIRST

TIME

The cryptocurrency has more than doubled this year amid

rising demand from institutional investors and tech companies

The Washington Post Dec. 17, 2020 at 2:09 a.m. GMT+3

By Hannah Denham

Bitcoin soared above $20,000 for the first time Wednesday, hitting another benchmark in a mad-dash year that saw the digital currency more than double in value.

Bitcoin, the world’s first blockchain cryptocurrency, swelled more than 6 percent Wednesday, to $20,800, according to CoinMarketCap.

It operates through peer-to-peer digital exchanges without a centralized hub, and its trading history is marked by wild swings. Bitcoin was trading above $10,000 in February, just before the coronavirus crisis took hold and it slid to about $4,000 within weeks. It was back above $10,000 by October amid growing demand from institutional investors and tech firms and is now up more than 150 percent since the start of the year.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, told CNBC last week that this rally differs from others — it nearly breached $20,000

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during a massive 2017 surge — because it’s being driven by Wall Street and Big Tech. “This is the most sophisticated investors, the smartest people in the room, buying the bitcoin quietly,” Tyler Winklevoss said during the interview.

PayPal announced in October that it would allow customers to access cryptocurrencies, and the services will extend to Venmo in 2021. Hedge fund investor Paul Tudor Jones has spoken publicly about buying bitcoin to fend against potential inflation. Publicly traded Square invested $50 million in bitcoin in October.

Part of bitcoin’s appeal is that it is of limited supply, said Bob

Fitzsimmons, the executive vice president for fixed income, commodities and stock lending at Wedbush Securities. It also offers investors a unique kind of security that holdings in conventional markets don’t have, he said.

“It’s a potential hedge against conventional financial assets. The stock market continues to rally, even though our debt deficits are increasing at what many would consider alarming rates,” Fitzsimmons said in an interview with The Washington

Post. “I think people are looking for an alternative other than the stock market right now because where else do you put your money?”

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But bitcoin is highly speculative — it has a floor value of zero, doesn’t accrue interest and has no asset value beyond what the market allows — and has yet to become a widespread form of payment. But bitcoin enthusiasts say the risk is worth the reward.

“As present implied real long-term rates are negative throughout much of the industrialized world, the prospective returns for fixed-income are constrained to say the least,”

Fitzsimmons said. “These poor prospective returns have been capitalized into equity markets and likely will be capitalized into real estate markets as the world recovers from the covid-19 shock.”

Bitcoin was designed to have a finite supply when it was launched in 2009: 21 million units earmarked for circulation over 100 years unless the network community determined otherwise. So far, 18 million of those units have been mined.

It’s also designed for privacy: Satoshi Nakamoto, the alias of the bitcoin creator, claimed that the cryptocurrency’s security is in its privacy, as users list their transactions and exchanges under unique pseudonyms. That attribute also makes bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more attractive to criminals, given that transactions are not tied to banks or governments and can be carried out anonymously.

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There were 4,049 cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap.com as of Wednesday, worth a total market capitalization of more than $599 billion. Bitcoin is the largest among them, with a market cap of $385.4 billion.

Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1.The digital currency has increased more than three times in value this year.

2.Bitcoin operates through stock market exchanges without a centralized hub, and its trading history is marked by wild swings.

3.Bitcoin is attractive because of it limited supply.

4.It also has a high level of security that holdings in conventional markets don’t have.

5.Bitcoin is not highly speculative as it has a floor value of zero, doesn’t accrue interest and has no asset value beyond what the market allows.

6.Bitcoin enthusiasts say it has yet to become a widespread form of payment.

7.It’s also designed for privacy that attribute makes bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more attractive to criminals.

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Text 4. MAN VS MACHINE

THE NEW ECONOMY Spring/Summer 2020 p.5

By Ashton Wenborn

From Stone Age rock implements to the smart technologies of the 21st century, humankind has always sought to develop tools that make life easier. This desire for convenience sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. And yet, our attempts to advance technologically often result in us handing our most human behaviours over to machines.

In every social interaction, we use body language to assess how other people are feeling. Humans are so adept at this complicated behaviour that we often don't realise we're doing it. From courtrooms to border control, a person's facial expressions have a huge impact on how a situation plays out, making the use of emotion-detection software a delicate matter. While it could prove to be a helpful resource, the technology is not yet advanced enough to be a reliable source of information. Users must proceed with caution.

Job interviews have traditionally been characterised as face-to- face interactions; how better to assess a candidate’s suitability for a role, after all? But in an oversaturated job market, recruiters are turning to tech to speed up the lengthy — and

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costly — hiring process. While companies may benefit from such systems, applicants are finding it difficult to identify what these automated recruiters want.

For a long time, we believed AI would never be able to replicate the uniquely human ability to think creatively. Now, however, AI is learning to pen novels and write music, forcing creative industries to question whether machines may in fact be about to steal their jobs. Another distinctly human behaviour is the consumption of food for pleasure, not just fuel. But as nutritionally complete meal replacement drinks grow in popularity, some individuals are forgoing the joy of their favourite dish for the promise of a balanced - if tasteless — diet.

Of course, many people do benefit from the accessible nutrition provided by meal replacements — those struggling with appetite loss, for example. This serves as a reminder of the many ways in which technology improves our lives. In the field of stem cell research, the development of induced pluripotent stem cells has been hugely important. The cells, which must be artificially generated, are essential to the advancement of many life-saving medicines. Though the human body cannot always protect itself from harm, technology is on hand to help it along the way.

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Humanity has developed an ability to derive joy from communicating with other people, eating hearty food and reading good books. We must be careful not to lose sight of these small pleasures in the pursuit of efficiency. And yet, we cannot deny the ways that technological developments - many of which imitate human behaviour - make our world an infinitely easier place in which to live.

Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1.In every social interaction, we use body language to understand what other people are feeling.

2.A person's facial expressions have a huge influence on how a situation plays out.

3.In an oversaturated job market, recruiters are turning to tech to speed up the time and money consuming employing process.

4.Applicants are finding it rather easy to understand what automated recruiters want.

5.AI is learning to be creative.

6.AI can consume food for pleasure, not just as fuel.

7.It is difficult for humanity to derive joy from communicating with other people, eating hearty food and reading good books

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Text 5. What does 2021 hold for supply chains?

https://www.logisticsbusiness.com/

Supply chain in 2021 John Perry, managing director of SCALA, a leading provider of management services for the supply chain and logistics sector, comments on the year ahead:

2020 has been an extremely turbulent year, with the public, businesses and the supply chains that serve them feeling the effects. But how will the fallout affect the supply chain in the months to come?

We must primarily consider the economic fallout from 2020. A growing proportion of the population is now in financial difficulty, putting pressure on price points – particularly pertinent given the recent news that a No Deal Brexit is likely to cause price increases for supermarkets and the customers they serve. The adaptations that businesses will need to make for Brexit will of course depend greatly on whether we leave with a deal, making the need for clarity in this area all the more urgent.

This economic shift, alongside the ongoing move to online and home delivery, will worsen retailers’ margin challenges, while they contend with the increased need to compete on price to retain sales. This cost squeeze is in turn likely to trickle through to suppliers, meaning that we may see businesses look to

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minimise costs across their supply chain and logistics operations.

The volatility of this year also means that certain companies may look to sell, meaning that mergers & acquisitions activity is likely to increase – possibly leading to ‘bargains’ for those in a position to buy.

A recurrent theme of 2020 was rapidly-shrinking warehouse space, due to factors such as the rising popularity of online shopping, changing consumer demands, and businesses stockpiling in an attempt to insulate themselves from wider market turmoil. Illustrating this, deals were agreed for 22.1 million square feet of warehouse space in the first nine months of the year according to JLL – up 36% year-on-year.

Environmental concerns will once again be high on the agenda

– particularly considering the UK is set to host the COP26 summit later in the year. Increased home deliveries in lockdown and fluctuating traffic levels have thrown a spotlight on businesses’ carbon emissions, meaning that finding ways to sustainably cut emissions, without compromising in areas such as service quality, will rightly be a key priority for many.

However the coming year should turn out, it is clear that supply chain risk and resilience strategies will be key. If this year has shown us anything, it is that business operations can be turned

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