Labour and capital

Money is not only a means of exchange but it is also a means of measuring the value of men,s labour. In economic theory,"labour" is any work undertaken in return for a fixed payment. The work undertaken by a mother in caring for her children may be a hard work, but she receives no fixed payment. It is not therefore labour in the strict economic sence.

As a scientist, the economist is interested in measuring the services which people render to each other. Although he is aware of the services which people provide for no financial reward, he is not concerned with these services. He is interested essentially in services which are measurable in terms of money payments of a fixed and regular nature. In economics money is the standard by which the value of things is judged. This standard is not religious or subjective, but objective and scientific. Human labour produces both goods and services . The activities of a farmworker and a nurse are very different, but both are measurable in term of payment received. Labour in this sence is not concerned with distinctions of social class, but simply with payment of wages in return for work.

When we talk about "the national labour force",however, we are thinking of all those people who are available for work within the nation, i. e.the working population.

It should be noted that any person engaged in private business is not paid a fixed sum of money for his activities. He is self-employed and his activities are partlythose of an employer and partly those of an employee If however he employs an assistant, to whom he pays a fixed wage, his new employeeprovides labour in return for payment. He receives his wage, while his employerreceives the surplus [large or small] from the whole business. The surplus is the reward of a private enterprise and is known as profit..

VOCABULARY

1. means средства

2. value ценность

3. to care for заботиться

4. to undertake предпринимать

5. reward награда.

6. surplus излишек

7. to concern заботиться, беспокоить

8. to provide обеспечивать

9. to engage вовлекать

10. wage заработная плата

11. to employ нанимать

12. profit прибыль

13. in terms зд.посредством

Markets and monopolies

Although in a perfect market competition is unrestricted and sellers are numerous, free competition and large number of sellers are not always available in the real world. In some markets there may only be one-seller or a very limited number of sellers Such a situation is called a "monopoly" and may arise from a variety of different causes. It is possible to distingush in practice four kinds of monopoly.

State planning and central control of the economy often mean that a state government has the monopoly of important goods and services. Some countries have state monopolies in basic commodities like steel and transport, while other countries have monopolies in such comparatively unimportant commodities as matches. Most national authorities monopolize the postal services within their borders.

A different kind of monopoly arises when a country, through geographical and geological circumstances, has control over major natural resources of important services, as for example Canadian nickel and the Egyptian ownership of the Suez Canal. Such monopolies can be called natural monopolies.

They are very different from legal monopolies, where the law of a country permits certain producers, authors and inventors a full monopoly over the sale of their own products.

These three types of monopoly a distinct from the sole trading opportunities which take place because certain companies have obtained complete control over particular commodities. This action is often called, cornering the market and is illegal in many countries. In the USA anti-trust laws operate to restrict such activities, while in Britain the Monopolies Commission examines all special arrangements and mergers which might lead to undesirable monopolies.

Слова и выражения к тексту

competention

to restrict

available

to arise

to distinguish

commodity

opportunity

merger

arrangement

to corner