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Many economists would argue that the mixed economy is the best system
for consumers. This is because consumers have two ways to control the
economy: by choosing to buy a company’s goods or services and by choosing to
give politica l par t ies t hei r vot es.
Text 5. Read the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
istory of Economic Th ought
H
Economic thought goes back thousands of years. The ancient Greek,
Xenophon, used the word oikonomikos (from oikos, meaning family, household,
estate, and nomos, for usage, law). He was talking about skilful or clever ways
to manage land and households. We could call many of Aristotle’s political
writings economics, although he did not use the word. The English word
economics first appeared in the 19th century – two and a half thousand years
after Xenophon.
Early economic thought was all about the meaning of wealth or being
rich. These early thinkers asked, “what makes a state or a country wealthy?” For
nearly 2000 years, the answer was very simple: gold. A country or nation’s
wealth depended on its owning precious metals. This simple view of the
economy remained until medieval times.
During medieval times – roughly the period between 1100 and 1500 AD,
trading between nations grew, and a new social class appeared. These were
merchants, people who made their money through the buying and selling of
goods, and they began to write their own thoughts on the economy. They saw
the economy as a way to make the state strong. For them the nation’s wealth
depended on stocks of gold and the size of the population. More people meant
bigger armies and a stronger sta te.
These were still simple ideas. However, daily experience had also taught
people many basic economic concepts. For example, they understood the
importance of trade with other states. They realized that scarcity makes things
more expensive and abu ndance makes them che aper.
Modern economics was really born in the 19th century. At this time,
thinkers like Adam Smith wrote down ideas that are still important today. Adam
Smith is often called the Father of Modern Economics, although the science was
called political ec onomy then. Smith realized that a nation’s wealth depended on
its ability to produce goods. The value of these goods depended on the cost of
production. The cost of production depended on the cost of workers, raw
materials a nd land. This was really the first example of macroeconomics.
Smith and other classical economists were writing at a time of great
change. The industrial revolution had begun. Paper money began to replace
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precious metals. The middle classes were growing stronger. Economists’
theories echoed these changes. They wrote about the division of labour (each
worker taking their part in the production process). They discussed the problems
of populati on growth. They influe nced thin king about social classes.
For classical economists, the value of goods depends on the cost of
production. However, the price of goods is not always the same as their real
cost. Later economists developed new theories to explain this weakness in
classical economics. These are known as the neoclassical economists and they
were writing at the end of the 19
th
and early 20th centuries.
In neoclassical economics, supply and demand make the economy
work. In other words, the price of goods depends on how much people want
them and how easily they can be found. Consumers want satisfaction from
their resources (time and money). Firms want profit. In neoclassical
economics this is the basic relationship in the econo my. These ideas are still
the basis of economic thinking today.
Text 6. Read the text and translate it. Ma
ke up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
The Russian Economy in the 19
T
he Russian empire grew enormously during the 19
th
Century
th
century covering
land from Poland in the West to the Pacific coast in the East. The population
also grew quickly. In economic terms this meant an increase in two of the four
factors of production: land and labour. You might think then that the Russian
economy at this time was booming. But until the 1860s this was not true at all.
Compared to other important powers like Britain, France and America Russia’s
economy was hopelessly underde veloped. Why was this so?
The main problem was Russia’s feudal economic system. Almost 80 per
cent of the population were peasants. They either worked on land owned by the
state or they were serfs. Serfs worked land that belonged to a small number of
wealthy landlords. In return for a small piece of land and a place to live serfs
had to work for their landlords. In fact, the serfs didn’t just work for their
landlords – they belonged to them .
This system did not encourage economic growth. Peasants’ labour was
used in subsistence farming for their families or working to maintain their
landlord’s estate. Without surplus goods there were no profits or savings. With
no savings domestic investment for growth was not possible. Russian agriculture
still used the most basic technology and almost the whole workforce was
unskilled and illiterate.
In addition the empire’s industrial base was poorly developed. Before
1850 there were relatively few factories, mostly producing textiles. Some
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factories were run by the state but many were run on the estates of
landlords. Industrial technology was basic and engineering education was
not encouraged by the authorities.
To make matters worse the Crimean Was from 1853 to 1856 had
weakened the Russian economy even more. Eventually, the Russian
authorities realized that they had to do something about the economy. The
empire was now surrounded by modern industrial powers. Russia had to
make an economic leap into a new age.
The first step was the emancipation of the serfs. Tsar Alexander II finally
made this happen in 1861. This meant that the population was no longer tied to
the land and could provide labour for industry. With foreign investment Russia
began to build up its industries. The iron and steel industries grew rapidly.
Mining of raw materials increased and industrial centres developed along the
Don and Dnepr rivers. The output of the iron and steel industries helped to build
a huge railway network including the Trans-Siberian ra ilway.
Growth continued and by the 1890s the Russian economy was
experiencing a real boom. From five per cent in the 1860s, annual growth
reached nine per cent in the 1890s – higher than anywhere else in Europe at the
time. However, much of the growth was built with foreign debt. Agricultural
methods and technology were still primitive. And what about the economy’s
human capital? The exploited serfs had now become exploited factory workers.
The majority of the population remained totally illiterate and desperately poor.
With the turn of the new century how much longer could the boom contin ue?
Text 7. Rea
d the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
C
ontemporar y Russia: th e fall and rise of the m arket economy
recent survey compared the cost of living for expatriates in cities
A
around the world. Not surprisingly, the top ten most expensive cities included
Tokyo, London and New York. But more expensive than any of these was…
Moscow! Less than two decades ago Moscow was the heart of the world’s
biggest planned economy. There was no property for sale back then. The staterun shops had few consumer goods. Shortages for simple things like shoes were
common. Today, things could not be more different. Moscow is the centre of a
free market with some of the highest property prices in the world. The state-run
shops have been replaced by expensive shopping centres and designer stores.
But the change has n ot bee n ea sy .
The figures for Russia’s real gross domestic product since 1991 when the
economic reforms began show that the economy has been on quite a rollercoaster ride. In 1991 GDP was over $350 billion. That fell dramatically year
after year until 1998 when GDP was just over $220 billion. However, the
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situation improved again from ’98. In fact Russia’s GDP increased steadily year
after year from 1999 until 2006 when it reached around $740 billion. What
caused suc h a change of fortunes?
Changing over to a completely different economic system could never be
painless. The Russian government of the early 1990s decided to use a shock
therapy approach. They introduced severe fiscal and monetary policies. The
government drastically reduced its spending. It cut subsidies to its crumbling
state industries. Interest rates and taxes were raised. Government price controls
on nearly all consumer goods were lifted. Only prices for staple goods like food
and energy remained controlled by the government. New laws were introduced
to allow private ownership and bu sinesses to exist.
All of these measures were intended to create conditions for a market
economy to grow. However, they also caused great hardship for ordinary
people. Most workers at that time were on fixed incomes. The measures
caused the cost of living to rise but their salaries did not rise at the same
rate. To make matters worse events in the banking system in 1992 caused
the money supply to balloon. This resulted in hyperinflation levels of
2,000%. Despite Russia’s enormous reserves of oil and gas the economy
went into a long and difficult depression. Finally in 1998 when an economic
crisis hit the East Asian Tigers, oil prices began to fall around
the world. For
Russia it turned a depression into an economic crisis.
However from 1999 world oil prices began to rise again. Mostly with
money earned from energy exports Russia began to pay off its foreign debts.
Inflation fell and the value of the rouble stabilized. The economy was
recovering. GDP grew steadily year after year and foreign investors began to
show confidence in investing in the country. Moscow’ place at the top of the list
of the world’s most expensive cities is not enviable. However it is a clear sign
that the Russian economy has survived a difficult time.
Text 8. Read the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
Economics and the C onsu m e r Soc iet y
Do you agree with Keynes’s idea that the government should actively
influence the economy?
In the nineteenth century economists believed that there were limits to
human wealth.
In their opinion when one man became richer another grew poorer.
If a country wished to improve its standard of living it had to export more
than it imported. So in Britain the main argument in those days was about
free trade and protectionism.
74
The owners of textile factories naturally supported free trade. The farmers
on the other hand were afraid of foreign competition. Free trade won because
Britain at that time was able to import cheap raw materials from its colonies and
re-export them as finished goods. If the government had introduced import
controls at that time it would have damaged the position of Great Britain as the
strongest manufactur ing nation in the worl d.
In America a similar belief in free trade eventually led to the Wall Street
crash in 1929. People in the USA benefited from the expansion of the American
economy in the First World War. They became convinced that money
automatically made more money.
If there had been no excessive speculation in stocks and if people had not
become convinced that speculative investments were always profitable the
effects of the “ cra sh” w ould no t ha ve been so di sa str o us.
Following the Wall Street crash the economist John Maynard Keynes
introduced a new theory. In simple terms his solution to the problem was
that there is no fixed limit to human wealth. He believed that if government
helped factories, factories would create jobs, if factories paid good wages
every worker would become a consumer, if people could afford to buy
goods, factories would produce more.
For a time, Keyne’s theory was successful. In the 1970s, however, people
began to realize that the world’s resources were limited that they would be better
off if they had economized. But it is difficult to persuade people to economise,
especially when they are used to Keynes’s idea that the less we spend, the more
unemployment we create.
Perhaps time and further study will some day reveal whose economic
concept are right. But it would be splendid if economists were able to diagnose
and prescribe cures for e conomic pr oblems more accurately.
Text 9. Read the text and translate it. Make up a summa
ry of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
conomics and It s Great Men . Adam Smith
E
conomics is a social science concerned with how mankind organizes
E
itself to accommodate scarce resources to their wants through the process of
production, substitution and exchange.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century economics had taken shape as
an academic discipline, largely as a branch of political economy. It should be
noted that the old name of economics was “political economy”. Adam Smith
was the founding father of modern economics as an academic discipline.
Adam Smith was born in 1723. For most of his life he was a professor of
philosophy in Glasgow, Scotland. His first and only economics book, The
Wealth of Nations, was not published until 1776, when he was 53.
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Smith’s purpose was to explain why some nations become wealthier than
others. He was fascinated by the rise of industrialism in the England and
Scotland of his time.
Over his lifetime Adam Smith’s economic investigations ranged from the
theory of trade to economic growth and an attempt to model the working of the
economy. He believed that a free market would maximize the welfare of the
population. It followed from his works that the role of government in the
economy should be minimal. The government should provide defence, justice
and public works. The only market intervention should be to prevent monopoly
and to promote competi tion.
Smith argued that competitive business was not just a possible way but
the best way to increase the wealth of a nation. He thought government re straints
on competition did mor e harm than go od.
Division of labour was seen by him as the source of society’s capacity to
increase its productivity. According to Adam Smith technical progress and free
trade between nations were central to economic growth. If a country wished to
improve its stand a rd of liv i ng it ha d to exp ort m or e than it imported.
Text 10. Rea
d the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
David Ricardo and the Theory of Comparative Advantage
David Ricardo, the greatest of the classical economists, was born in 1772.
His father, a Jewish immigrant, was a member of the London stock exchange.
Ricardo entered his father’s business at the age of 14. In 1973, he married and
went into business of hi s own. The young Ricardo quickly made a large fortune.
In 1799, Ricardo read Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” and
developed an interest in political economy (as economics was then called). In
1809, his first writings on economics appeared. These were a series of
newspaper articles on “The High Price of Billion”. In 1814 he retired from
business to devote all his time to political economy.
Ricardo’s major work was “Principles of Political Economy and
Taxation”. This work contains, among other things, a pioneering statement of
the principle of com parative advantage as a pplied to internation al trade.
Ricardo showed why it was beneficial for both countries, for England tp
export wool to Portugal and import wine in return even though both products
could be produc ed wi th les s labour in Portugal.
The book covers the whole field of economics as it then existed. Ricardo
held that the economy was growing toward a future “steady state”.
Ricardo’s book was extremely influential. For more than half a century
thereafter, much of economics was an expansion of or a commentary on
Ricardo’s work. Although Karl Marx eventually reached conclusions that
differed radically from any of Ricardo’s views, his starting point was Ricardo’s
theory of va lue and method of analyzing economic growth.
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Text 11. Read the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
G
lobal Careers
deally, it seems a global manager should have the stamina of an Olympic
I
runner, the mental ability of an Einstein, the conversational skill of a professor
of languages, the detachment of a judge, the tact of a diplomat and the
perseverance of an Egyptian pyramid builder. And that is not all. If they are
going to measure up to the demands of living and working in a foreign country
they should also have a feeling for the culture; their moral judgment should not
be too rigid; they should be able to merge with the local environment; and they
should show no signs of prejudice.
Thomas Aitken
A
ccording to Colby Chandler, the former Chief Executive of Eastman
Kodak Company, “these days there is not a discussion or a decision that does
not have an international dimension. We would have to be blind not to see how
critically important international experience is”.
International companies compete with each other for global executives to
manage their operations around the world. Yet what it takes to reach the top of a
company differs from one country to the next. For example, whereas Swiss and
German companies respect technical creativity and competence, British and
French companies often view managers with such qualities as “mere
technicians”. Likewise, American companies value entrepreneurs highly, while
their British and French counterparts often view entrepreneurial behaviour as
highly disruptive. Similarly, whereas only just half of Dutch managers see skills
in interpersonal relations and communication as critical to career success, almost
90 per cent of their Brit ish colleagues do so.
Global management expert, Andre Laurent, describes German, British and
French managers’ attitude to management careers as follows:
German managers, more than others, believe that creativity is essential for
career success. In their mind successful managers must have the right individual
characteristics. German managers have a rational outlook; they view the
organization as a co-ordinated network of individuals who make appropriate
decisions based on their professional compe tence and knowledge.
British managers hold a more interpersonal and subjective view of the
organizational world. According to them, the ability to create the right image
and to get notices for what they do is essential for career success. British
managers view organizations primarily as a network of relationships between
individuals who get things done by influencing each other through
communicating and ne gotiating.
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French managers look at organizations as an authority network where the
power to organize and control others comes from their position in the hierarchy.
French managers focus on the organization as a pyramid of differentiated kevels
of power. They perceive the ability to manage power relationships effectively
and to “work the system” as critical to their ca reer success.
As companies integrate their operations globally these different
national approaches can send conflicting messages to success-oriented
managers. Subsidiaries in different countries operate differently and reward
different behaviours based on their unique cultural perspectives. The
challenge for today’s global companies is to recognize local differences
while at the same time creating globally integrated career paths for their
future senior executives.
There is no doubt the new global environment demands more, not fewer,
globally competent managers. Global experience, rather than sidetracking a
manager’s career, is rapidly becoming the only route to the top. But in spite of
the increasing demand for global managers, there is a potentially diminishing
interest in global assignments, especially among young managers. A big
question for the future is whether global organizations will remain able to attract
sufficient numbers of young manage rs willing to work internationally.
Text 12. Read the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
Visiting Customers
I.
I
n view of inevitably delayed delivery dates, it was very important to get
in touch with all Smallcrown’s cu stomers.
The Sales and the Marketing Managers agreed that the sales force
should approach customers individually and follow this up with an
explanatory letter. Davis emphasized that they should reassure the
customers that Small crown could still deliver the goods. They settled that
Whitney himself would visit as many customers as possible after sending
out an explanatory letter.
Later that week Whitney together with one of his salesmen visited
Boyd Hardware. Whitney supposed that Boyd Hardware’s case would be
easy to handle but after the meeting with the chief of the company expecting
a large order of hardware components by the end of the month, he was not
so sure. During the meeting Whitney didn’t waste time making excuses or
explaining Smallcrown’s problems. He just came straight to the point and
questioned whether Boyd Hardware had sufficient stocks to give
78
Smallcrown the chance to re-schedule its deliveries. By checking the stock
levels it was established that Boyd Hardware had enough components to last
for several months, so it would be possible to re-schedule deliveries without
disrupting Boyd Hardware’s production.
Yet in spite of this the company chief pointed out that he didn’t like
the idea of being overdependent on Smallcrown for supplies. He pointed out
that it would have been almost impossible to find alternative supplies at
short notice if the fire had been bad enough to halt production for several
months. He added also that he had got a number of attractive offers from
some of Smallcrown’s competitors, though he hoped there would not be any
necessity to make use of them.
While Whitney was busy making tours of domestic customers, Davis was
preparing t o set off fo r the Contine nt.
II.
The
first overseas customer that Davis visited was Rik Bekker in
Antwerp. The news that Smallcrown was unable to deliver goods on time
put Bekker in a difficult position. It was only a short time ago that he
persuaded the reluctant Board of Directors to order components from a
British firm. To admit now that the components would not be delivered on
time would make things very unpleasant both for him and for Smallcrown.
Davis noticed that Bekker’s order was extremely large and asked him if he
really needed two thousand components per month right through the winter.
Bekker admitted that there might be some seasonal variation in his
schedules but just at that time they needed the goods urgently. So Davis
failed to change Bekker’s mind on this point.
From Antwerp Davis flew on to Bremen where he met Klaus Schneider,
Smallcrown’s agent in Germany. During the course of their conversation Davis
brought up the question of the BSM-3 project and was surprised to see that
Schneider was extremely interested in it. Schneider even asked if Smallcrown
would be willing to sell him the patents in Germany. He said that there was now
market for this device although there had not been five years ago when the
BSM-3 project was suspende d.
Next day Davis visited Dr.Scheeper, Smallcrown’s largest customer in
Germany. Once again he had to explain how the fire had affected Smallcrown’s
delivery schedules and apologize for the inevitable delays. Dr.Scheeper pointed
one order for a consignment of 3500 components that he needed for his model
BN33 and that could not be delayed. Although Davis knew hat it would be a
problem to meet this order, he promised to do his best.
Then Davis brought up the question of D r.Scheeper’s previous orders
and found out that Dr.Scheeper’s company no longer needed them as
they had developed a cheaper model and were going to use components
79
of other types. So Davis asked Dr.Scheeper to arrange an immediate
delivery of the ordered components to Antwerp since their customers there
needed exactly those components.
Text 13. Rea
d the text and translate it. Make up a summary of the text.
Use dictionary if necessary.
M
ore about Management
Management is the art or practice of managing a business, money,
products, and all the people employed by a company. In other words,
management is a set of activities directed at an organization’s human, financial,
physical and information resources with the aim of achieving organizational
goals in an efficient and effective manner. In this case, “efficient” means “using
resources wisely and without unnecessary waste” while “effective” means
“doing the right things”. The chart below shows the four main functions of
management.
Planning and decision making
Determining the organization’s goals and deciding how best to achieve
them, delegating responsibilities to subordinates.
Organizing
Determining how best to group activities and resources. Making all
employees wor k to ge the r.
Leading
Motivating members of the organization to work in the best interests of
the organization.
Controlling
Monitoring and correcting ongoing activities, receiving reports from
subordinates, helping subordinates handle exceptions.
The golden rule of successful management can be summed up in the
following words: “The system works well as long as we don’t have any
exceptions”. Successful management is getting things done through “others”,
that is thro ugh the manager’s immediate subordinates.
The word “management” is also used to denote the people who are in
charge of a company or an organization. Although large organizations typically
have a number of levels of management, the most common view considers three
basic levels: top, middle and firs t line mana gers.
Some people learn everything without the help of a teacher; others
learn nothing even when carefully taught. Most of us, however, fall in the
category where we can learn if we are taught. The better we are taught, the
better we learn. A skill can definitely be taught. A skill is something that can
be observed, analyzed, explained, practiced, criticized and practiced again.
Management is the kind of skill that can be taught, learned and must be
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