Текст What is Economics?

Упр. 172. Выучите следующие слова.

1) consumption – потребление;
2) enterprise – предприятие;
3) objective – цель;
4) field – область, сфера деятельности;
5) profit margin – размер прибыли;
6) wage – зароботная плата;
7) rent – арендная плата;
8) utility – полезность, выгода;
9) entrepreneur – предприниматель;
10) prosperity – процветание;
11) aggregarte demand – совокупный спрос;
12) income – доход.

Упр. 173. Прочитайте и переведите текст.

Economics is a social science studying production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services. Economists focus on the way in which individuals, groups, business enterprises, and governments try to achieve efficiently any economic objective. Other fields of study also try to do that. Psychology and ethics try to explain how objectives are formed; history records changes in human objectives; sociology interprets human behaviour in social contexts.

Standard economics can be divided into two major fields. The first, microeconomics, explains how supply and demand in competitive markets create prices, wage rates, profit margins, and rental changes. Microeconomics assumes that people behave rationally. Consumers try to spend their income in ways that give them as much pleasure as possible. As economists say, they maximize utility. Entrepreneurs seek as much profit as they can extract from their operations.

The second field, macroeconomics, deals with modern explanations of national income and employment. Macroeconomics dates from the book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1935), by the British economist John Maynard Keynes. His explanation of prosperity and depression is based on the total of aggregate demand for goods and services by consumers, business investors, and governments.

Упр. 174. Дайте английские эквиваленты.

Производство, распределении и потребление товаров и услуг, конкурентноспособные рынки, назначать цены, изменения в арендной плате, потребители, потратить свой доход, предприниматели, процветание, совокупный спрос на товары и услуги.

Упр. 175. Ответьте на вопросы.

1. What is economics? 2. What way do economists focus on? 3. What fields can standard economics be divided into? 4. What does microeconomics explain? 5. What does macroeconomics deal with?

Текст Modern Economic Thought

Упр. 176. Выучите следующие слова.

1) founder –основатель;
2) competition –конкуренция;
3) supplier –поставщик;
4) self-regulating –саморегулирующийся;
5) market economy –рыночная экономика;
6) unemployment – безработица;
7) variables –переменные;
8) trading –торговля;
9) property –собственность;
10) allocation –распределение;
12) commandeconomy– командно-административный тип экономики

Упр. 177. Переведите следующие слова и словосочетания без словаря.

Political economy, economic theory, central idea, to specialize, to produce, resources, Marxist paradigm, concepts, statistical, econometrics, economic disputes ,economic organization, economic theories, to maximize, the dominant form of market economy, to focus, rational basis, the control of capital, socialism, mercantilism, political mechanisms, command economies, communism, totalitarianism, economic factors, evolutionary norms.

Упр. 178. Прочитайте и переведите текст.

Modern economic thought began with Adam Smith in the late 18^th century. Modern economics began with J. S. Mill focusing on what was called ‘political economy’ which he defined exclusively in relation to the exchange value of objects, or price.

Today it is customary to consider Adam Smith the founder of economic theory. The central idea promoted by Smith was that the competition between various suppliers and buyers would produce the best possible distribution of goods and services, because it would encourage individuals to specialize and improve their capital, so as to produce more value with the same labour. Smith’s theory rests on the belief that large systems can be self-regulating by the activity of their parts. Smith’s formulation is called the “invisible hand” and is still the main idea of market economy.

In the 19^th century, Karl Marx synthesized a variety of schools of thought involving the social distribution of resources, including the work of Adam Smith. He used the systematic approach to logic taken from philosopher Hegel to produce ‘Das Kapital’. The Marxist paradigm of economics is not generally considered by market economists, though some concepts from his work are used in labour economics and in political economy.

In the early 20^th century, economics became increasingly statistical, and the study of econometrics became important. Statistical treatment of price, unemployment, money supply and other variables became more and more central to economic disputes.

In principle, economics can be applied to any type of economic organization. However, the majority of economic theories describe systems where goods are exchanged in the market – where buyers and sellers seek to maximize their results by trading. The dominant form of market economy focuses on societies where property is owned by individuals, money has a rational basis, and profit comes from utilizing labour and capital to produce goods to be sold in the market. Economic theory is also applied to markets where the control of capital is in the hands of the state or society, which include socialism and mercantilism, and to societies where allocation of resources is not through the market, but through political mechanisms, generally referred to as command economies, which includes communism and forms of totalitarianism.

In the late 20^th century, three of areas of study which are producing change in economic thinking are: risk based rather than price based models, imperfect economic factors, and treating economics as a biological science based on evolutionary norms rather than abstract exchange.

Упр. 179. Определите, соответствуют ли содержанию текста следующие предложения.

1. Modern economic thought began with Adam Smith in the late 18^th century.

2. J. S. Mill is considered the founder of economic theory.

3. The competition between various suppliers and buyers produces the best possible distribution of goods and services.

4. The “invisible hand” is still the main idea of market economy.

5. In the early 19^th century, economics became increasingly statistical.

6. Economics can be applied to any type of economic organization.

7. The dominant form of market economy focuses on societies where property is owned by individual.

8. Economic theory is also applied to markets where the control of capital is in the hands of the state or society.

Упр. 180. Ответьте на вопросы.

1. Who did modern economic thought begin with? 2. Who is considered to be the founder of the economic theory? 3. What idea was promoted by Adam Smith? 4. What belief does Smith’s theory rest on? 5. What approach did Marks use in the 19^th century? 6. When did economics become increasingly statistical? 7. Can economics be applied to any type of economic organization? 8. What systems do the majority of economic theories describe? 9. What does the dominant form of market economy focus on? 10. What markets is economic theory also applied to? 11. What areas of economic study appeared in the 20^th century?