19. The rights of a customer and the responsibilities of a supplier.

When you buy something from a shop, you are making a contract. But you want to make sure if this contract means that it's up to the shop to deal with your complaints if the goods are not satisfactory. The first thing that comes to your mind is that the goods must not be broken or damaged and must work properly. The second thing that you find important is that the goods must be as described - whether on the pack or by the salesman. A hair-drier which the box says is blue should not turn out to be pink…It makes you understand the third principle: The goods should be fit for their purpose. This means the purpose for which most people buy those particular goods. If you wanted something for a special purpose, you must have said exactly what for.

Many people think that complaining about faulty goods or bad service is never easy. Most of them dislike making a fuss. However, when you are shopping, it is important to know your rights. I am quite sure that if the shop sells you faulty goods, it has broken its side of the bargain. It must sell satisfactory goods, i.e. the goods that have a merchandise quality. For example, a clock that doesn’t go when you wound it, cannot be called a satisfactory good. And that is absolutely right. In this situation customer have the right to return the goods and have a complete refund.

If goods are faulty when you first inspect or use them, you should go back to the shop, say that you cancel the purchase and ask for complete refund. If the customer prefers, he can accept a repair or a replacement. If goods break down through no fault of yours, after you have used them for a while, you may still be entitled to a compensation. In some cases it would be reasonable to expect a complete refund. But if the good worked perfectly for a while and then broke, one could only expect some of the purchase price back. Everyone should understand that he and the supplier must negotiate a reasonable settlement.

20. Costs of economic growth. Labour problems.

It’s essential for people to know how economic growth is encouraged in a market system, about its advantages and disadvantages. It’s also important to realize the costs and the benefits of economic growth.The advantages and disadvantages of economic growth are fiercely debated by economists, environmentalists and other commentators. In our presentation we consider some of the economic and social costs and benefits from expanding levels of production and consumption.

It’s an open secret that healthy economy leads to higher living standards and greater prosperity for individuals. It also helps businesses to be profitable, which generates employment and income.With higher output firms tend to employ more workers creating more employment.Growth is an important avenue through which better living standards and lower rates of poverty can be achieved.

We want you to remember that as new people enter the labour market, they will be happier if they are able to find work. We can see growing income and wealth inequality in society which is reflected in an increase in relative poverty.Economic growth helps to ensure that new jobs are created; if the economy is getting bigger, then someone is needed to complete the increase in production.

Economic growth creates higher tax revenues and there is less need to spend money on benefits such as unemployment benefit. Therefore economic growth helps to reduce borrowing. With increased tax revenues the government can spend more on the R&D, NHS (National Health Service) and education etc.

With growing economy we have more goods and services available for sale, and the increase in our income means that we can buy more of them. 

Potential environmental benefits – richer countries have more resources available to invest in cleaner technologies. And, as nations move to later stages of development, energy intensity levels start to fall. The reduction in energy intensity is a reflection of improvements in production technologies and also a gradual switch towards a low carbon economy.

During periods of growth, people have felt optimistic about their future. However, when we choose to increase the size of the economy, there are some costs.

• Firstly, to create goods and services requires the use of resources, and while some of those resources are renewable, many are not.  For example, there is a limited amount of crude oil in the world. Each time we drive a car, we are using some of that crude oil (in the form of petrol, which has been refined from crude oil). Eventually all of the crude oil will run out. As we move closer to the end of that productive resource, we can begin to see what will happen if we run out of other resources. For example, land is also limited, as are coal, iron ore and natural gas. In each case we can’t make more; we have to work with the resources that we have available now. If we do not manage these resources properly now, then we will not have any to help us generate growth in the future.

• Secondly, economic growth cannot be separated from its environmental impact. Fast growth of production and consumption can create negative externalities such as water and air pollution, road congestion and traffic growth which create noise pollution. Environmental damage have a negative effect on our quality of life and limits our sustainable rate of growth.

• Thirdly, the push for growth has in many areas put a great deal of pressure on individuals. This may have costs in terms of family and community life.

• Finally, although average living standards may be rising, the gap between rich and poor can widen leading to an increase in relative poverty and a widening of the gap between different regions.

In conclusion, we would like to say that economic growth provides important long-term benefits for the population of a country. It can be a route out of poverty and it creates jobs and wealth. However, inequalities in income and wealth mean that, in many countries, the benefits from growth are not distributed evenly. This raises questions of equity (fairness) and impacts on our interpretations of how to measure standards of living. There are also environmental benefits from countries becoming richer. Nevertheless, there are major concerns about the impact of fast growth on the world’s environmental resources.