Text 9. The Economy.

The Free Enterprise System.

The US economy is based on the free enterprise system: Private business compete against one another with relatively little interference from the government. Since the depression of the 1930s, when the economy essentially collapsed, laws have been made giving the government a more active role in economic and other matters.

Changes Over Time.

Until the second half of the last century, the United States was mainly an agricultural nation. The Civil War (1861-1865) helped stimulate industry. In the years that followed, industrialization transformed the country, although many areas, especially the South, remained mainly agricultural and rural.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the US economy grew rapidly. Many companies moved to the south and southwest, and these areas experienced change and growth. Then, in the mid-1970s, economic growth began to slow down.

Just as there had been a shift from agriculture to industry, there is now a shift from industry to services. (Services are provided by hospitals, banks, law firms, hotels and restaurants, and so on.) In recent years, most new jobs have been service jobs.

The Situation Today.

The United States is a large country and is rich in natural resources. It is a leading producer of fuel – of oil, natural gas, and coal. It is also a leading producer of many other minerals, including copper, gold, aluminium, iron, and lead. The United States grows wheat, corn, and other crops and raises many cows, pigs, and chickens.

However, the USA is also a major consumer of resources. This means, for example, that the US must import much of the fuel it uses.

Not surprisingly, international trade is important to the United States. Major exports include machinery, high-technology equipment, chemicals, cars, aircraft, and grains. Major imports include machinery and telecommunications equipment, oil, cars, metals, and chemicals.

Today, the USA faces some major economic challenges. One important challenge is increasing its productivity, or the efficiency of the labor force, in order to increase the rate of economic growth. Another challenge, as the country shifts from manufacturing to services, is to train people to fill new kinds of jobs.

The United States is a country of highly developed economy. Detroit is a large motor-car industry center. Shipbuilding is developed along the Atlantic coast and in San Francisco on the Pacific coast. Textile industry is also well-developed, especially in the South near large cotton plantations. Agriculture is very wide-spread, above all in the prairie regions, where wheat and other grain crops are grown. Cotton is grown in the Mississippi Valley, tobacco in Maryland and Virginia. California is famous for its fruit plantations and the center of film making industry - Hollywood, and the West – for its cattle-farming. Poultry-farming is wide-spread in the country-side near all big cities.

Detroit [də΄troit] - Детройт

San Francisco [΄sænfrən΄siskou] – Сан Франциско

Maryland [΄mεərilænd] – штат Мэрилэнд

Virginia [və΄dзiniə] – штат Вирджиния

Hollywood [΄holiwu:d] – Голливуд