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10. What do private and public goods differ in?
11. Why is intervention of government in allocation of resources
needed?
12. How can government stabilize the economy?
2. Match a line in A with a line in B to define the following terms:
A B
1) Business cycle
2) Market failure
3) Public goods
4) Private goods
5) Merit goods
6) Transfer payments
7) Mixed economy
a) Goods that consumed by one person, cannot
be consumed by another.
b) Goods that, even they are consumed by one
person, is still available for consumption by
others.
c) Goods that society thinks people should
consume or receive, no matter what their
incomes are.
d) Fluctuations of total production, or GDP,
accompanied by fluctuations in the level of
unemployment and the rate of inflation.
e) Payments for which no current direct
economic service is provided in return.
f) Situation in which markets do not allocate
resources efficiently.
b. g. A market economy where government
influences the operations of the market
system in a variety of ways.
3. Fill in the blanks using the words from the list in the bottom.
Governments play a major role in modern 1) ______ economies
purchasing goods and services, raising taxes, and making transfer payments.
Governments also set 2) __________ , regulate economic activity, and
attempt to stabilize 3) ______ .
Taxes affect the 4) ________. 5) ______ a good raises the price to the
buyers and lowers the price to the seller, thereby reducing the output of the
good.
Government intervention can be justified by 6)_______. Stabilizing
the business cycle, deciding on the amount of public goods, preventing the
exercise of market power, and creating a socially desirable distribution of
income and merit goods are all 7) _______ for a government role in the
economy.
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a) the business cycle, b) legal framework, c) mixed, d) economic
grounds, e) market failure, f) allocation of resources, g) taxing.
4. Choose the answer from the alternatives.
1. The economic policies and programs of government can effect:
a) the distribution of income;
b) the allocation of resources;
c) the composition of output;
d) the level of national output;
e) all the above.
2. The American economy is called mixed capitalism because:
a) the products of many business enterprises are used partly by
business and partly by consumers;
b) the answers to the Three Fundamental Questions are to some extent
determined by government and to some extent by private individuals and
businesses;
c) a large percentage of business enterprises are owned by
government and private business.
3. For which of the following goods or services would a government
subsidy most likely improve the allocation of resources:
a) wheat;
b) newspaper publishing;
c) cancer research;
d) toys;
e) automobiles.
4. Which of the following are public goods:
a) clean streets;
b) ambulance service;
c) postal service.
5. Which of the following items of government spending reflect
1) provision of public goods, 2) provision of merit goods, 3) concern with
income distribution:
a) police patrols;
b) old aged pensions;
c) unemployment benefit;
d) free state primary school.
112
VOCABULARY
1. Find English equivalents of the following Russian word
combinations.
1. налог на добавленную стоимость a. atransfer payments
2. валовой национальный продукт b. welfare program
3. валовой внутренний продукт c. resource allocation
4. распределение ресурсов d. public products
5. социальное страхование e. Gross Domestic Product
(GDP)
6. программа социального
обеспечения
f. Gross National Product
(GNP)
7. трансфертные платежи g. legal and social
framework
8. правовая и социальная система h. social insurance
9. общественные блага i. Value Added Tax
(VAT)
10. несостоятельность рынка j. market failure
2. Look through the text (p. 109) and find the words which mean
the following:
a) the natural conditions, such as air, water, land in which people,
animals and plants live (1);
b) an opportunity to have or use something that will bring you benefit (1);
c) the struggle between producers to gain an advantage (3);
d) having a disability of the body or mind (4);
e) health, comfort and happiness, wellbeing (4);
f) a continuing rise in prices (6);
g) an amount of money you have to pay to the government that it uses
to provide public services and pay for government institutions (6).
3. Match the words which are very close in their meaning. Use the
words and phrases in the left-hand column to make your own sentences:
1) to ameliorate
2) to benefit
3) to maintain
4) virtually
5) to protect
6) to facilitate
7) to modify
8) to adjust
9) 9. tax
a) to keep safe
b) levy
c) to regulate
d) to change
e) to get advantage from
f) practically
g) to make easy
h) to support
i) to make it less severe
113
4. Match the words having the opposite meaning:
1) recession
2) include
3) broad
4) boss
5) charge
6) to strengthen
7) major
8) merit
9) competitive
a) uncompetitive
b) flaw
c) с. narrow
d) to weaken
e) exclude
f) minor
g) servant
h) growth
i) i. discharge
5. Read the text and insert the missing words or phrases from the
list below.
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC GOODS
Most goods are private goods. 1) _______, if consumed by one person,
cannot be consumed by another. Your clothes are private goods. When you
wear them, no one else can wear them 2) _________ .
Private goods are divisible in that they come in units small enough to
be afforded by individual buyers. Furthermore, private goods are subject to
the exclusion principle in that those who are willing and able to pay the
equilibrium price get the product, but those who are 3) ________ to pay are
excluded from the benefits provided by that product.
The characteristics of public or social goods are 4) _______ those of
private goods. Public goods are indivisible, involving such large units that
they cannot be sold to 5) _______. More importantly, the exclusion
principle does not apply, that is there is no effective way of 6) ______ the
benefits of public goods once those goods come into existence. It gives rise
to the so called free-rider problem.
A free-rider is someone who gets to consume a good that is costly to
produce without paying for it. The free-rider problem applies particularly to
7)____, because if anyone were to buy the good, it would then be available
for everyone else to consume. National defense, 8)_______, public health,
and insect-abatement programs are examples of public goods. If society is
to enjoy such goods and services, they must be provided by the public
sector and financed
9) ______ in the form of taxes.
a) unable or unwilling, b) essentially opposite, c) public goods,
d) individual buyers, e) a private good, f) at the same time, g) food-control,
h) by charges, i) excluding individuals from.
114
6. Translate the following word combinations:
1) real-life economies;
2) employment opportunities;
3) pricing behavior;
4) direct market intervention;
5) tax-transfer payment system;
6) social insurance and welfare program;
7) stable price level;
8) health and safety regulations;
9) unemployment benefits.
WORD BUILDING
1. Identify the nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs in the
following group of words of the same root. Use the appropriate ones in
the sentences below. Choose the correct form of the word.
a) compete, b) competence, c) competent, d) competing, e) competition,
f) competitive, g) uncompetitive, h) competitor, i) competitiveness.
1. The minister believes that higher taxes would make industry
________ .
2. Many firms are struggling to survive in a highly ________
marketplace.
3. Benchmarking is used to determine a company’s efficiency
compared to its _________.
4. Companies as small as ours just can’t _________ at that level.
5. We have to choose between the _______ priorities of industry,
health, and education.
6. He demonstrated thorough ________ in dealing with issues.
7. The government has enacted a series of antitrust laws to maintain
_____ .
8. We must increase our __________.
9. He is ________ enough to run this business.
2. Translate these words of the same root and make sentences of
your own using the word combinations below.
strength – to strengthen – strengthening – strong
strengths and weaknesses
competitive strength
115
to strengthen the market system
a strong economy
tax – to tax – taxation – taxable
state / local / income / direct / indirect / value added taxes
taxpayer
to pay / to collect / to levy / to lift /raise / lower taxes
to be tax-free (=to be tax-exempt)
to reduce taxation
taxable income
3. Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end
of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line. There
is an example at the beginning (0).
INCOME REDISTRIBUTION
AND MERIT GOODS
Governments are concerned not just with the
0) distribution of income, but with the
consumption of particular goods and services.
Merit goods are goods that society thinks
people should consume or receive, no matter what
their incomes are.
Merit goods 1) ______ include health,
education, shelter, and food. Society might think
that everyone should have 2) _________ housing.
Is there an economic 3) ________ for government
intervention in regard to merit goods? In a sense
there always is, because the sight of someone who
is homeless makes everyone else 4) ______. By
providing housing or shelter for those who would
otherwise be on the streets, the government make
the rest of us 5)_______ better.
Society’s concern over merit goods is
6) ______ related to its concern over the
distribution of income. The difference in the case
of merit goods is that society wants to
7) ________ an individual’s consumption of
particular goods rather than goods in general.
Some of the goods 8) ________ by the
government (such as health and education) are
merit goods.
116
DISTRIBUTE
TYPE
UNADEQUATELY
JUSTIFY
HAPPINESS
FEELING
CLOSE
SURE
PROVISION
GRAMMAR
Modal verbs.
Degrees of certainty/uncertainty.
Problem Verbs.
MODAL VERBS
The modal verbs are used to show that the action indicated by
the Infinitive is considered by the speaker as obligatory, necessary,
advisable, possible/impossible, probable/improbable or uncertain.
Words in parentheses ( ) indicate semi-modals. They have
similar meanings to the modals, but are not grammatically the same.
Remember that modal verbs don’t have the auxiliary do/did in
negatives, questions or short answers. Don’t use to after modal verbs.
Meaning Form Example
ability or capability
ability in the past
can
could
(be able to)
Can you play a musical
instrument?
My grandfather could speak
four languages.
She is able to work under
pressure.
strong obligation
imposed by the speaker
(or by law)
must I must leave a message for
him.
You must do something.
Drivers must obey traffic
signals.
strong obligation which
is imposed by rules,
regulations, someone
in authority (not by the
speaker)
weak obligation, or
advice
(have to) I have to get up early these
days.
You have to have a driving
license if you want to drive a
car.
should
ought to
You should talk to the boss
about it.
You ought to do more work.
lack of obligation
asking for or giving
permission
needn’t
may
can
(be allowed to)
(be permitted to)
She needn’t come/ doesn’t
need to come to the meeting.
Can/may I borrow your
calculator? Yes, you
can/may.
The children are allowed to
watch TV only at weekends.
117
prohibition mustn’t
can’t
requests could
can
would
You mustn’t cross the road
without looking.
Can/could you tell me where
Mr. Lawson’s office is?
Would you post these letters
for me?
offers can
will
shall
Can I help you?
I’ll take you home.
Shall I answer the phone for
you?
speculation about
something the speaker
is unsure about
speculation about
something the speaker
may
might
could
must
There are may be an easier
way of solving the problem.
You never know what might
happen in the future.
In a situation like this
anything could happen.
You must be tired after your
long journey.
is sure about
1. Read and translate the sentences paying attention to the modal
verbs. What is the meaning of each verb?
1. The manipulation of taxes and its expenditures is one basic means
by which government can help to avoid unemployment and inflation.
2. Governments, like private firms, must decide what to buy and
what to produce themselves.
3. Why should government intervene in a market economy?
4. The country has to find some way of deciding together how much
to spend on defense.
5. Government intervention may improve the functioning of the
economy.
6. The government might charge firms the damages their pollution
causes, or might permit a certain amount of total pollution and allow firms
to buy and sell rights to pollute.
7. The most difficult issue in discussing both merit goods and the
distribution of income is how society or the government decides who
should get what.
8. Taxes may be cut when the economy is in a recession, and the
growth rate of money may be reduced when the inflation rate is too high or
be increased when the economy is in recession.
118
9. According to the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906, adulterated
and misbranded food and drugs mustn’t be sold.
10. They needn’t have ordered new production lines.
11. We weren’t able to minimize the risks.
12. Can I raise the issue of working hours at the meeting?
DEGREES OF CERTAINTY/ UNCERTAINTY
Making financial predictions, we can feel sure or unsure about
them.
Look at the scale of probability which shows different levels of
certainty/uncertainty and different ways of expressing it.
100%
75%
50%
25%
0%
Certainty
Probability
Possibility
Improbability
Impossibility
I’m sure that share prices will rise.
Share prices are sure/certain to rise.
It’s likely that share prices will increase.
Share prices are likely to increase.
Share prices may/might/could increase.
It’s unlikely that share prices will increase.
Share prices are unlikely to increase.
I’m sure/certain that share prices won’t
rise.
Share prices are sure/certain not to rise.
2. Work in pairs. Use the language in the box to ask each other
about the future of:
the cost of living unemployment benefits
prices income tax
profits for a major company salary
Are you sure that …will …?
Do you think …might …?
Are you sure that … won’t …?
Example: A: “Are you sure that prices of Coca-Cola will rise this
year?”
B: “Yes, I’m certain that they’ll rise this year.”
119
PROBLEM VERBS
The verbs lie/lay, rise/raise, and sit/set cause problems even for
native English speakers. The solution to the problem is to remember
which verbs are transitive and which are intransitive.
Transitive verbs
verbs that take a complement
verbs that do not take a
Intransitive verbs
complement
raise (raised, raised)
= to lift or elevate an object
The OPEC countries have raised
Prices rose more than ten percent.
rise (rose, risen)
= to get up, to increase
the price of oil.
lay (laid, laid)
= to put or to place somebody or
something on a surface
The students laid their
compositions on the teacher’s desk
The university lies in the western
section of town.
lie (lay, lain)
= to occupy a place, to rest
yesterday.
set (set, set)
= to put, to place
He set the telephone on the table
by the bed.
= to take a seat, to occupy a place
We are going to sit in the fifth row
at the opera.
sit (sat, sat)
3. Choose the correct form of the verb and underline the
complement if there is one. Remember that complements do not begin
with prepositions.
1. You will see on the map that Key West (lies/lays) off the coast of
Florida.
2. She (sat/set) on the boards of several large companies last year.
3. The delivery boy (lay/laid) the products on the table.
4. In chemistry class, we learned that hot air (rises/raises).
5. They tried to (sit/set) the explosives carefully on the floor.
6. Governments (sit/set) the legal framework, regulate economic
activities and attempt to stabilize the business cycle .
7. He was tired so he decided to (lie/lay) down for a little while.
8. After the heavy rain, the water in the lake (raised/rose) another two
feet.
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