Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Английский для экономистов. Учебное пособие
.pdf
With some lonely exceptions – such as Rodrik and the former World Bank chief
and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz – the pursuit of freer trade
became a consensus position for economists, commentators and the vast majority
of mainstream politicians, to the point where the benefits of free trade seemed to
command blind adherence. In a 2006 TV interview, Thomas Friedman was asked
whether there was any free trade deal he would not support. He replied that there
wasn’t, admitting, «I wrote a column supporting the Cafta, the Caribbean Free
Trade initiative. I didn’t even know what was in it. I just knew two words: free
trade».
EXERCISES
1. Sum up the main ides of the text and retell it in Russian.
2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the text below.
share important observers economy trends appeal referendum writes aiming
cheap investments growth reform federal interest follow
Every year brings its 1)________ of events that take us by surprise and
shake up the global economy. Few prognosticators saw Britain voting to leave the
European Union in 2016, though the decision will likely have 2)________
implications for global trade in the coming years. And it almost goes without
saying that most polls and pundits failed to anticipate Donald Trump's election
victory in the U.S.
That said, many of the economic trends that shape our world can be spotted
ahead of time by careful 3)________. Whether it's the return of fiscal stimulus
under a Trump administration, or the Federal Reserve's plans to accelerate the pace
of interest rate hikes, here are 5 4)________ to focus on in the new year.
If the surprising Brexit vote were Europe's only problem, European policy
makers and stakeholders in the continent's 5)________ could rest easy. But
Britain's exit from the EU could be the least of its worries, according to Carl
161
Weinberg, chief economist with High Frequency Economics. He argues that a
recent referendum in Italy reaffirmed the 6)________ of populism and anti-
European sentiment, showing just how fragile the entire European project is.
It's not clear when Italy's next elections will be held (the latest would be
February 2018), but the 7)________ results suggest that mainstream parties that
favor a unified Europe are losing support fast. «If Italy moves out of the Euro Zone
and away from the European Union, the economic and financial implications will
throw European economies into recession», he 8)________ in a recent analyst
note, arguing that the process of unwinding Italian banks' obligations to the rest of
the EU could spark a financial panic.
President Xi Jinping will begin the final year of his first term in 2017, and
the challenges he faces managing the world's second largest economy are
manifold. China's government is 9)________ for growth rates of 6.5% over the
next five years, but recent experience has shown that reaching or even exceeding
these goals will not lead to a stable Chinese economy unless those targets are hit in
a sustainable manner.
Since the financial crisis, policymakers have propped up growth by
supporting the corporate sector with 10)________ credit to invest in infrastructure
and China's formidable export sector. But that credit has been increasingly
funnelled into less productive 11)________, leading overall debt to soar.
According to a recent analysis by the International Monetary Fund, «overall credit
growth has been averaging around 20% per year, much higher than nominal GDP
growth». That's not a sustainable strategy for future economic 12)________, and
President Xi must do more to rebalance the economy towards consumer spending
in the coming year if the Chinese economy is going to continue to power global
growth going forward.
Halfway around the world the new American president, Donald Trump, will
be embarking on his own substantial 13)________ projects. One such effort will be
a program of tax cuts and infrastructure spending, which independent analysts say
162
will balloon the 14)________ government's deficit at the same time that spending
on entitlements like Medicare and Social Security is on course to soar.
Depending on how the new administration structures its infrastructure
investments, that spending could be a boon to growth going forward, and one that
could be bought cheaply given today's low 15)________ rates. These decisions,
however, will be made based on politics as much as economic fundamentals. The
power struggle between Republican leaders on Capitol Hill and the White House
will be one that economic forecasters 16)________ closely, as it will determine
whether a traditional Republican vision of small government and tax cuts wins out
over Trump's populist impulses.
3. Read the following article and make a rendering of it in English.
Глобальные проблемы мировой экономики делятся в соответствии с
принадлежностью к тому или иному виду экономического пространства.
Протекающие в мире демографические процессы заслуживают самого
пристального внимания и исследования. Нарастающая напряженность в этой
сфере прежде всего связывается с так называемым «демографическим
взрывом», который имеет ярко выраженную тенденцию к предельному росту
населения планеты с середины XX в. В 1940-х гг. советскими учеными (В.
Вернадский, Н. Моисеев) было подсчитано максимальное народонаселение,
которое может без заметных последствий «выдержать» наша планета. Этот
предел населения планеты, по их расчетам, составил 500 млн. человек. В
настоящее время население планеты
превосходит эту цифру больше, чем в 10
раз. Интенсивный рост населения планеты стал одной из характерных черт
современной эпохи, так как на протяжении многих тысячелетий всего
предыдущего развития столь высокие темпы роста народонаселения были
невозможны.
Следует учитывать, что большая доля (свыше 80%) современного
прироста населения (в отличие от прошлых периодов) приходится на
163
развивающиеся страны. Стремительный рост населения происходит в
странах Азии, Африки, Латинской Америки.
Таким образом, на современном этапе в развивающихся странах
сложился такой тип воспроизводства населения, когда снижение смертности
не сопровождается соответствующим сокращением рождаемости, а это
создает немало сложностей. В итоге все это привело к обострению
глобальной демографической проблемы.
Если в странах
с низкой пространственной экономикой происходит
бурный рост населения, то почти во всех странах, где имеется объем
экономического пространства, а это промышленно развитые страны,
происходит депопуляция вследствие суженного воспроизводства всего
населения. Эти страны оказались ввергнутыми в демографический кризис,
следствием чего явилось старение населения, т. е. преобладание в нем лиц
пожилого возраста.
Показательно, что по мере достижения страной более высокого уровня
экономического развития прослеживается устойчивая тенденция к снижению
рождаемости.
Развивающиеся страны в меньшей мере, чем промышленно развитые
страны, способны обеспечить свое население материальными и культурными
ценностями, дать элементарное образование, обеспечить работой.
Безработица и неполное использование рабочей силы являются бичом для
большинства экономически отсталых
стран. В этих странах наблюдаются
миграционные потоки из сельской местности как в города своей страны, так
и в промышленно развитые страны. Миграция населения в этих случаях
вызвана стремлением или просто найти работу, или найти более
высокооплачиваемую работу. Однако большинство этих ожиданий не
реализуется из-за больших масштабов миграции и низкого
образовательного
уровня в беднейших странах.
К глобальным проблемам относятся вопросы, волнующие все
человечество. В настоящее время одним из острейших и трудноразрешимых
164
является вопрос о том, как изменить ставшую уже опасной экологическую
ситуацию. Важно хотя бы не ухудшать существующее состояние
окружающей среды. Нужно не только любить природу, стремиться к
сохранению окружающей среды, но и уметь делать это.
Демографическая ситуация сказывается на экологическом состоянии
планеты. Плотность населения опережает способность крестьян
перестроиться на более интенсивную
систему хозяйствования. Влияние этого
фактора выражается в подрыве существовавшей тысячелетия практики
кочевого скотоводства, целью которого было ограничение потерь, а не
максимизация дохода. Таким образом, многие ценные естественные
пастбища превращаются в пустыню из-за нерациональных действий
человека.
В результате пространственной эволюции (плоскостное развитие
экономики) со всей остротой встают такие проблемы, как
ресурсная,
топливно-энергетическая, продовольственная и как их порождение –
экологическая проблема.
Человечество, для того, чтобы поддерживать производительные силы
на достаточно высоком уровне, должно постоянно расширять потребление
природных ресурсов, что в свою очередь ведет к росту отходов производства
и потребления.
На нынешнем этапе развития мирового хозяйства существуют
определенные количественные ограничения по некоторым категориям
природных ресурсов. Тем не менее вряд ли целесообразно утверждать о
существовании дефицита природных ресурсов на планете.
Экологическая проблема имеет давнюю историю, но как и другие
глобальные проблемы, она значительно обострилась со второй половины
ХХ в. (первые признаки нарушения экологии отмечались со второй
половины XIX в. по мере индустриализации планеты).
К главным
направлениям обострения экологического кризиса
относятся вывод из землепользования засоленных почв, подверженных
165
ветряной и водной эрозии; чрезмерное употребление химических удобрений
и т. д.; все большее химическое воздействие на продукты питания, воду,
среду обитания человека; уничтожение лесов, т. е. всего того, что в той или
иной мере влияет на жизнь и здоровье людей; растущий выброс в атмосферу
загрязняющих веществ, ведущих к постепенному уничтожению защитного
озонового слоя; стремительный рост отходов, соседство со свалками
различных промышленных и бытовых отходов среды обитания человека.
В мировом хозяйстве наблюдаются существенные изменения в
перераспределении промышленных мощностей. Наиболее трудоемкие,
капиталоемкие и энергоемкие производства перемещаются из промышленно
развитых стран в развивающиеся, где на охрану окружающей среды, как
правило, не хватает средств. Сегодня
наиболее загрязненные районы на
земном шаре находятся в развивающихся странах.
Экологический кризис представляет угрозу национальной и
международной экономической безопасности, которая сейчас соперничает с
традиционной военной угрозой.
В последнее время не менее важной и острой является
продовольственная проблема, так как она направлена на обеспечение
продовольствием постоянно растущего населения планеты.
Продовольствие неравномерно распределено
по отдельным странам.
Имеются страны с избытком высококачественного продовольствия и страны,
основная часть населения которых испытывает сегодня нехватку в самых
необходимых продуктах питания. К первой группе относятся промышленно
развитые страны, а ко второй – беднейшие развивающиеся страны. По
оценкам ФАО, общая численность людей, страдающих от острого голода и
недоедания, составляет свыше 1
млрд. человек.
Нехватка важнейших питательных компонентов отрицательно
сказывается на здоровье людей, а это снижает качество рабочей силы и как
следствие не позволяет достичь высоких темпов экономического роста.
166
UNIT 6. HISTORY OF ECONOMICS
Part 1
MARX’S CRITIQUE OF CLASSICAL ECONOMICS
It seems hardly necessary to stress the fact that Marx was among the
warmest admirers as well as the keenest students of that trend in economic thinking
for which he invented the term «classical political economy’. It is important to
remember that Marx used this term in a way radically different from that of many
later writers, in particular Keynes. By classical political economy Marx meant to
designate that strand in economic theory originating in France with Boisguillebert
(1646-1714) and in Britain with William Petty (1623-87) and reaching its high
point with the work of Smith and Ricardo (1772-1823) who «gave to classical
political economy its final shape» (Marx, Critique of Political Economy). It is
important to keep this definition in view because the term «classical economics»
has often been used in a much broader sense – for Keynes it was a school
embracing all those who, following Ricardo, subscribed to one version or another
of Say’s Law, who believed, that is to say, in the self-regulating nature of capitalist
economy. On such a definition, classical economics culminated with Marshall and
Pigou. (For Marx’s characterisation of classical economy, see Marx, 1, footnote)
Marx was always conscious of the enduring achievements of this school when
contrasted with the work of the «vulgar school», which emerged in the period
following Ricardo’s death. In Marx’s estimation, classical political economy
constituted a decisive stage in the investigation of the capitalist mode of
production; around 1830 this phase begins to draw to a close, a close intimately
bound up, for Marx, with the appearance of a new social and political force
increasingly conscious of itself, the working class. Marx did not, of course, mean
to imply that in a somewhat mystical manner the modern working class «killed»
political economy. Rather he wished to stress that the methodological limitations
of classical political economy increasingly paralysed it in the face of this new
phenomenon.
167
The fact that political economy was unable to grasp the significance of the
emergence of the working class and the implications of its struggle against capital
only underscored, for Marx, the grave methodological and philosophical weakness
which he detected in the work of Ricardo. For Marx’s considerable respect for the
classical economists should not blind us to the fact that he saw in them a series of
weaknesses which were to prove fatal. It is, of course, the case that the attack upon
Ricardianism after 1830 was increasingly inspired by narrow ideological and
political considerations, a point rightly stressed by Meek (1967). And such attacks
were sharpened by the fact that a trend within the emerging working-class
movement («Ricardian Socialism») tried consciously to deploy Ricardian theory as
a weapon against the capitalist order. But this is by no means the end of the story.
For it is also undoubtedly the case that the opponents of Ricardo (Bailey is a good
example) were able to seize upon real, unresolved, contradictions in the Ricardian
system. It is this aspect of the problem on which we will concentrate.
In considering the deficiencies of Ricardo’s work which had opened it up to
these attacks, attacks which Ricardo’s followers were unable to combat, Marx was
to centre his entire critique of political economy on what he considered its decisive
weakness its tendency to view society ahistorically, or, more specifically, its
inclination to treat capitalist economy as one working directly in accordance with
the laws of nature. All Marx’s detailed criticisms of political economy’s erroneous
conceptions of value, money, capital, etc., which fill the pages of Capital and even
more so of Theories of Surplus Value, rest finally upon this, his basic criticism. It
is one anticipated, though not as yet exhaustively worked out, in The Poverty of
Philosophy where we find the following:
Economists express the relations of bourgeois production, the division of
labour, credit, money, etc. as fixed immutable, eternal categories.... Economists
explain how production takes place in the above mentioned relations, but what they
do not explain is how these relations themselves are produced, that is the historical
movement that gave them birth . . . these categories are as little eternal as the
168
relations they express. They are historical and transitory products. (Marx, Poverty
of Philosophy, author’s italics).
This attack by Marx upon the ahistorical standpoint of the classical
economists must be carefully considered, for it can easily be misunderstood. Many
have taken Marx simply to mean that Smith and Ricardo were either unaware of or
not interested in pre-capitalist economic forms of production. This is, however,
quite wide of the mark; Smith was concerned perhaps more than anybody else to
demonstrate the superiority of the capitalist form of production as a means of
creating wealth in contrast with feudal economy. Others, perhaps somewhat less
naive, have assumed that Marx aimed simply to make Ricardo’s analysis dynamic,
to «set in motion» the work of the classical school, as Althusser puts it (Althusser
and Balibar, German Ideology). Neither of these interpretations of Marx’s
principal objection to the standpoint of classical economy can be sustained on the
basis of a reading of the appropriate texts.
Marx, as a materialist, understood that the categories of political economy
were a product of historical development and specifically of the historical
development of the social relations of production. This point must be emphasised if
only because of the attack launched by Althusser and others against this
conception, which we believe to be at the very centre of Marxism. In his review of
the history of political economy, Marx at all times insists upon the objectivity of
the categories of the science: «They are socially valid and therefore objective
thought forms», he writes. Marx was here stressing a vital point – namely, that
science always necessarily develops through definite forms outside the individual
consciousness. Men always start with certain definite aims and motives and the
leading figures of political economy were, in this respect, no exception. But the
history of political economy cannot be reduced to a review of the conscious aims
and motives of its leading representatives. Science develops always under
determined historical conditions in that it must always commence its work in and
through the categories which have been historically handed down to it, categories
which reflect the work of all previous thinkers in the field. Thus, just as Smith’s
169
work can only be understood in connection with the legacy of Physiocracy, so
Ricardo’s work was very much an attempt to deal with the unresolved questions
bequeathed to him by Smith.
Marx attacked the political economists precisely because they took the
categories of their science uncritically. His charge of ahistoricism meant essentially
this: the political economists fetishistically accepted the available concepts as fixed
and unalterable. Political economy took its categories for granted precisely because
it did not know the historical process through which they had been created. It was
unable to reproduce this real process in thought and therefore saw in the categories
of bourgeois political economy the expression of the essence of bourgeois
production. In short, it fell under the illusion that the relations of modern economy
not only appeared according to the categories of political economy, but that these
relations really were as they appeared.
In this light, it is perhaps possible to begin to see the central importance
which Marx’s investigations of the history of political economy hold for his work
as a whole. In bourgeois social science, the history of any discipline is invariably
taken either as «background» material before the «substantive» exposition of the
subject commences, material which has no organic connection with the principles
of the subject, or the development of the subject matter is viewed teleologically
history is reduced to a search for examples from the past designed to show that all
previous efforts in the subject were, more or less, crude anticipations of the subject
as it exists today. Marx, in his review of the work of Petty, Smith, Ricardo and
others, rejected this essentially idealist position. He is not interested in past
thinkers merely from the point of view of tracing the origin and growth of his own
ideas, nor merely in paying his intellectual debts, as it were. The Theories of
Surplus Value (intended by Marx, we remember, as a fourth volume of his work) is
not a history of economic thought in the conventional sense. It was, Engels tells us,
A detailed critical history of the pith and marrow of Political Economy, the
theory of surplus-value and develops parallel with it, in polemics against
170
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]