- •Белорусский государственный университет
- •Предисловие
- •1. Profession of an economist
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •1. K p. A. – one thousand per annum.
- •Ex. 3. Express in one word.
- •Comprehension
- •Degrees in Economics
- •Basic Courses
- •Supporting Courses
- •Required Courses Year 1
- •Questions
- •Outstanding Economists
- •The Founder of Economics
- •David Ricardo (1772–1823)
- •John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)
- •Writing
- •Study the biographical data of Michael Del and Ingvar Kamprad, find the information about famous businessmen and write it down as in the examples that follows the tables.
- •Michael Dell
- •Timeline
- •Ingvar Kamprad Timeline
- •Example
- •Translation a. Translate into Russian. Woman’s Place in Management
- •B. Translate into English.
- •Listening
- •Speaking
- •Vocabulary academic adj – 1. Университетский; академический; учебный; 2. Чисто теоретический; 3. Фундаментальный (в противоположность прикладному)
- •Salary n – жалованье, оклад self-employed adj – обслуживающий свое собственное предприятие; работающий не по найму
- •2. Economics as a science
- •2.1. Economics and Economic Methods
- •Economics: the Study of Scarcity and Choice
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Opportunity Cost
- •Satisfying People’s Wants
- •Methodology
- •Economic Theory and Models
- •Speaking Discuss the following questions.
- •Vocabulary
- •Economic systems
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Translation a. Translate the text from English into Russian. Classification of Countries
- •Vocabulary
- •3. The macroeconomy
- •3.1. Gross domestic product
- •Gross Domestic Product
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Questions
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Vocabulary
- •3.2. InflAtion
- •Meaning and Measurement of Inflation
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Demand-Pull and Cost-Push Inflation
- •Does it Cost More to Laugh?
- •Writing
- •Consumer Price Index Criticism
- •Vocabulary
- •3.3. Economic business cycles and unemployment
- •Economic Business Cycles
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •Unemployment
- •Types of Unemployment
- •W.H. Philips and the Philips Curve
- •Vocabulary
- •3.4. Banking discovering connections
- •Reading
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •Commercial Banks of Britain
- •Banking in the usa
- •Banking and Monetary System of the Republic of Belarus
- •The Paris Club
- •Listening Student Banking
- •Student Banking
- •Application for Credit
- •Vocabulary
- •3.5. Money and monetary policy
- •Reading
- •Money and its Functions
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •Classical Economics
- •Keynesian Economics
- •Monetarism
- •Instruments of Monetary Policy
- •Monetary Policy during the Great Depression
- •Listening Central Banking
- •Talking with Paul Volker
- •Vocabulary
- •Glossary
- •3.6. Fiscal policy
- •Fiscal Policy
- •Discretionary fiscal policy
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Other Issues in Fiscal Policy
- •The Role of Government
- •Writing
- •Transition and the Changing Role of Government
- •Budgets and Fiscal Policy
- •Briefing on Personal Taxation
- •Vocabulary
- •4. The microeconomy
- •4.1. Supply and demand
- •Supply and Demand
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Equilibrium: Mr.Demand, Meet Mr.Supply
- •Equilibrium
- •Elasticity
- •Ex. 2. Answer the questions on the text.
- •Negotiating on the Phone
- •North Holland Dairy Cooperative, Volendam, Postbus 4550nl-4452
- •Jan van Geelen
- •Vocabulary
- •4.2. Market structure
- •Monopoly
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •Three Pricing Strategies
- •Market Leaders, Challengers and Followers
- •Vocabulary
- •5. The global economy
- •5.1. International trade
- •International Trade
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •The Arguments for and against Free Trade
- •The Banana Wars
- •The Legacy of Adam Smith and David Ricardo
- •Listening
- •Vocabulary
- •5.2. Global market and developing nations discovering connections
- •The World’s Economies
- •Industrialized nations: Growing and Growing Old
- •Newly Industrialized Nations: Getting Going
- •Developing Nations
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •To develop, development, developed, developing
- •Comprehension
- •Economic Cooperation
- •Case study
- •B. Scanning for Information
- •Airbus Industrie
- •The Boeing Company
- •C. Interpreting Information
- •Multinational Corporations and Globalization: the Pros and Cons
- •Translation
- •Vocabulary
- •6. Business administration
- •6.1. Company structure discovering connections
- •Reading
- •Forms of Business Organization
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •Flotation
- •Describing Company Structure
- •Is made up of is diveded into
- •Listening
- •Interview with Willhite
- •Vocabulary
- •6.2. Management
- •Nature of Management
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •A. Introduction to the problem
- •B. Scanning for Information
- •Beginning the Business
- •Text b Business Principle: Supermarket Shopping Should Be Fun To Stew Leonard, the distinction between a supermarket and an amusement park is slight, and not necessarily useful.
- •Business Principle: Listen to the Customer
- •Stew Leonard’s Fact Sheet
- •Look at the Stew Leonard's Approach to Supermarket Sales. What do you think about his ideas of running the business. Stew Leonard's Approach to Supermarket Sales
- •Principles of Management
- •What Makes a Good Manager?
- •Семь заповедей бизнесмена
- •Vocabulary
- •Glossary
- •6.3. Accounting
- •What is Accounting?
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Accounting and Financial Statements
- •The Accounting Profession
- •Business Documents
- •The Balance Sheet
- •Income Statement
- •Bookkeeping
- •Role Play
- •Project X
- •Vocabulary
- •6.4. Marketing
- •Concept of Marketing
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Building a Brand
- •The brand name
- •B. Scanning for Information
- •The Creation of Levi Jeans
- •Other Levi Strauss Products
- •Text c Why New Products Are Needed
- •Levi Strauss & Co. Product History
- •C. Discussion
- •Writing
- •Marketing Information System
- •You are discussing a new product with your marketing manager. You may use the dialogue below as a model.
- •Vocabulary
- •6.5. Advertising
- •Advertising
- •Vocabulary Focus
- •Comprehension
- •How Companies Advertise
- •Ad advertising campaign advertising standards advertisement advertising budget advertising agencies print
- •Designing an Advertising Campaign Putting the Problem in Perspective: Applying Business Concepts
- •E. Fieldwork
- •Every Day ups Are Trusted To Reliable Deliver 12 Million Shipments Worldwide
- •Vocabulary
- •Glossary
- •Список использованной литературы
- •Contents
Economic Theory and Models
Economic theories simplify reality to allow us to understand basic economic forces and how individuals cope with the problems of scarcity. We can observe actions and their consequences. Observation and description are not sufficient for understanding and ultimately predicting actions. Theory establishes relationships between cause and effect. We use it to interpret actions and outcomes so we can explain the process by which the actions were undertaken and the outcomes achieved. The purpose of theory in all scientific analyses is to explain the causes of phenomena we observe. To conduct economic analyses we frequently need to engage in abstraction. This involves making assumptions about the economic environment and human motivation that simplify the real world enough to allow us to isolate forces of cause and effect. Any theory is a simplification of actual relationships.
An economic model is a simplified way of expressing how some sector of the economy functions. An economic model contains assumptions that establish relationships among economic variables. We use logic, graphs, or mathematics to determine the consequences of the assumptions. In this way we can use the model to make predictions about how a change in economic conditions results in changes in decisions affecting economic variables. Economists often use the term “model” as a synonym for theory.
B. Translate into English.
Экономика – это общественная наука, изучающая поведение в сферах производства, потребления, распределения и обмена. Экономисты анализируют происходящие в этих сферах процессы и исследуют их последствия для физических лиц, организаций, например фирм, и общества в целом. В экономической науке существует много конкурирующих между собой направлений, однако основным делением является деление на классическую и неоклассическую школы.
В систему экономических наук входят науки, которые изучают функциональные аспекты развития экономики (финансы и кредит, ценообразование, экономика труда, материально-техническое обеспечение, планирование экономического и социального развития и др.) или ее отраслевые особенности (экономики промышленности, сельского хозяйства, транспорта и др.).
LISTENING
Listen to the interview with Denis Mac Shane, a British Member of Parliament for the Labour Party and answer the following questions.
Why does MacShane think that manufacturing has a future?
Why does MacShane think that manufacturing has a future in the advanced countries?
Why, however, is this manufacturing unlikely to solve the problem of unemployment?
What does MacShane mean by “in theory there should be no more manufacturing in Switzerland?” (It is this theory that makes many people argue that manufacturing must move to “less-developed” countries.)
Why does he say it is surprising for a British company to be buying Swiss goods?
What is the reason he gives for the United States still being the richest nation in the world?
Speaking Discuss the following questions.
Do you agree that economics is helpful in every day life? Give your arguments.
Try to think of several important decisions that you have made recently. What was the opportunity cost of each decision?
Do you think economics is a theoretical or applied discipline?
Imagine a world without a problem of scarcity. Would you enjoy living in such a world?