17. Money in Our Life.

 The word money derives from Latin "moneta” which was one of the names of the Roman goddess Junona.      What does money really mean for people? Some people think that money makes us independent, well organized, goal-oriented and confident. The vast majority believes that the purpose of work is to pay for their other interests. But only small group of people say that they are happy because they are successful.      Psychological and sociological research has shown that once basic needs are met, money has a very low correlation with happiness. Even the joy you’d feel if you won the lottery would last only a few months. Most of people acknowledge that having more money means having fewer problems. People at the top of income pyramid rarely consider themselves affluent and certainly not wealthy. "Middle income” or "comfortable” are the two most common labels we hear.      A lifestyle that includes most of the things we want is profoundly richer than 10 years ago. Our houses are bigger, we own more technical devices, we eat out more often and we are more likely to travel.      All values in the economic system are measured in terms of money. Our goods and services are sold for money and that money is in turn exchanged for other goods and services. Originally, a valuable metal (gold, silver or copper) served as a constant store of value. The first coins weren’t round like the coins today. People first used round coins in Turkey about 2. 700 years ago. Bank notes were firstly used in China in about the year 800. Today we use both coins and bank notes: coins are for small amounts and bank notes are for bigger amounts. Factories called "mints” make coins and bank notes. The first bank opened in Italy in 1171, since then banks have opened in cities and towns throughout the world.      Today many people use credit cards to pay for things. Valuable metal has generally been replaced by paper notes. Personal finance depends on the state of the economy, on your age, on your willingness to tolerate risk, on the nature of your goals.

18. Functions of Money.

Medium of exchange. Money's most important function is as a medium of exchange to facilitate transactions. Without money, all transactions would have to be conducted by barter, which involves direct exchange of one good or service for another. The difficulty with a barter system is that in order to obtain a particular good or service from a supplier, one has to possess a good or service of equal value, which the supplier also desires. In other words, in a barter system, exchange can take place only if there is a double coincidence of wants between two transacting parties. The likelihood of a double coincidence of wants, however, is small and makes the exchange of goods and services rather difficult. Money effectively eliminates the double coincidence of wants problem by serving as a medium of exchange that is accepted in all transactions, by all parties, regardless of whether they desire each others' goods and services.

Store of value. In order to be a medium of exchange, money must hold its value over time; that is, it must be a store of value. If money could not be stored for some period of time and still remain valuable in exchange, it would not solve the double coincidence of wants problem and therefore would not be adopted as a medium of exchange. As a store of value, money is not unique; many other stores of value exist, such as land, works of art, and even baseball cards and stamps. Money may not even be the best store of value because it depreciates with inflation. However, money is more liquid than most other stores of value because as a medium of exchange, it is readily accepted everywhere. Furthermore, money is an easily transported store of value that is available in a number of convenient denominations.

Unit of account. Money also functions as a unit of account, providing a common measure of the value of goods and services being exchanged. Knowing the value or price of a good, in terms of money, enables both the supplier and the purchaser of the good to make decisions about how much of the good to supply and how much of the good to purchase.

19. English for Future Economists.

20. Pros and Cons of Internet Trading.

21. Ideal National Economy for Ukraine.

22. Manager – Employee Relations.

23. How to Be a Perfect Manager.

24. The Importance of Genomics in the Business World.