•"Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success."

Oscar Wilde

•"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; it is better to be alone than in bad company."

George Washington

•"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." Walter Winchell

Exercise 14. Write an essay about your friends and their influence (влияние) on you. Include illustrations and examples, please.

Text В. Definitions of Economics

One of the earliest and most famous definitions of economics was made by Thomas Carlyle, who in the early 19th century called it the "dismal science." What Carlyle had noticed was the anti-utopian implications of economics. Many Utopians, people who believed that a society of abundance without conflict is possible, believe that good results come from good motives and good motives lead to good results. Economists have always disputed this. Carlyle reacted to early economists such as Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo by his famous definition.

Another more useful early definition was made by English economist W. Stanley Jevons who in the late 19th century wrote that economics was "the mechanics of utility and self-interest." Economics, in his opinion, was a social science that explores the results of people acting on the basis of self-interest. All economic theories are based on the idea of selfinterest, meaning that a person tries to do the best for himself with what he or she has.

The most influential Textbook in economics in the beginning of the 20th century, was Alfred Marshall's Principles of Economics. Marshall defined economics as "a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment. Thus it is on one side a study of

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wealth; and on the other, and more important side, a part of the study of man."

Many other books of the period included in their definitions something about the "study of exchange and production." Economists today do not use these definitions because the boundaries of economics have expanded since Marshall. Economists do more than study exchange and production.

Most modern definitions of economics use notions of choice and scarcity. Perhaps the earliest of these is by Lionell Robbins in 1935: "Economics is a science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." Virtually all Textbooks have definitions that are derived from this definition. Though the exact wording differs from author to author, the standard definition is something like this:

"Economics is the social science which examines how people choose to use limited or scarce resources in attempting to satisfy their unlimited wants."

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Questions to the Text

1.What was the definition of economics given by Thomas

Carlyle?

2.What did Thomas Carlyle mean by calling economics "dismal

science"?

3.What did the Utopians believe in?

4.What was W. Stanley Jevons's definition of economics?

5.What is meant by "self-interest" in the Text?

6.What was the most influential Textbook in economics in the beginning of the 20th century?

7.Why don't modern economists use Marshall's definition of

economics?

8.What notions do most modern definitions of economics use?

9.What is the modern definition of economics?

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Exercise 15. Translate into English.

1.Одно из первых определений экономике было дано Томасом Карлейлем.

2.Карлейль назвал экономику «зловещей наукой», потому что заметил ее антиутопичность.

3.Экономисты всегда оспаривали тот факт, что хорошие побуждения (мотивы) ведут к хорошим результатам.

4.Экономика — это социальная наука, которая иучает результаты деятельности людей, действующих на основе личного интереса (эгоизма);

5.Учебник Альфреда Маршалла имел очень большое влияние на развитие экономики.

6.Многие другие книги того периода включали в себя определения экономики как науки о производстве и обмене.

7.Большинство современных опредлений экономики используют понятие выбора и недостаточности.

8.Практически все современные учебники используют определение, данное Лайонелом Роббинсом в 1935 году.

Exercise 16. Write sentences with the following words:

•definition;

•notion;

•science;

•motives;

•society;

•utility;

•self-interest;

•economic theories;

•influence;

•wellbeing;

•boundaries;

•choice;

•scarcity;

•relationship.

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