Vocabulary

1. Do you know the meaning of the following words? Try to match up each of them to its Ukrainian equivalent. Use your dictionary if necessary.

fascinating crucial medium of exchange foremost whale’s teeth bristle nail slave social invention to allow bagel item to escape complication measure of value

monetary unit yardstick worth heterogeneous gauge crayon croissant to facilitate store of value to yield monetary returns real assets paper assets household

а) засіб накопичення б) еталон в) соціальний винахід г) бублик д) одиниця товару е)складність є) міра вартості ж) цінні папери з) різнорідний и) головний, насамперед і) чарівний; той, що зачаровує ї) засіб обміну й) раб к) рятуватися; уникнути л) грошовий прибуток

м) виміряти, оцінювати н) нерухоме майно, нерухомість о) дозволяти, давати, надавати п)полегшувати , сприяти р) кольорова крейда, кольоровий олівець с) сім’я т) щетина у) давати ф)грошова одиниця х) вирішальний, критичний ц) гвіздок ч) зуби кита ш) круасан щ)вартість, цінність

Pre – reading task

Work in small groups.

Can you answer the following question:

• What is money and what functions does it perform in the economy of the country?

Preface each answer with one of the following according to what is true for you:

We well know that … To tell the truth … As for this problem …

I doubt if we know … I cannot be sure …

Reading

1. Read text 20. How much of the information did your group already know?

Text 20

Money and its functions

Money is a fascinating aspect of the economy and a crucial element of economics. Conceptually anything generally acceptable as a medium of exchange is money. Historically, whales' teeth, elephant tail bristles, circular stones, nails, slaves, cattle, beer, cigarettes and pieces of metal have functioned as media of exchange. In our economy the debts of governments and of commercial banks and other financial institutions are used as money. Money that is everything that performs the functions of money.

There are three functions of money:

1. Medium of Exchange. First and foremost, money is a medium of exchange; it is usable in buying and selling goods and services. A worker in a bagel bakery does not want to be paid 200 bagels per week. No does the bagel bakery wish to receive, say, fresh fish for its bagels. Money is readily acceptable as payment. It is a social invention allowing resource suppliers and producers to be paid with a “good” (money) which can be used to buy any one of the full range of items available in the marketplace.

As a medium of exchange, money allows society to escape the complications of barter (barter is the system of paying for goods or services with other goods or services instead of using money). And because it provides a convenient way of exchanging goods, money allows society to gain the advantages of geographic and human specialization.

(1) Money (2) Money