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Академия управления при Президенте Республики Беларусь

Английский язык для студентов, изучающих Экономику

3 курс

Сокращенная версия

Часть 1 (1 семестр)

Минск 2010

Unit 1 Introduction to Economics

I. Anticipating the Issue

Discuss your answers to the following questions.

1. What is economics? What is economy? How are they interconnected?

2. What is national economy? What is international (world) economy? Are they interconnected?

3. What do economists as experts in the science of economics do?

II. Background Reading

Read the following text. Focus on the meaning of the boldfaced words. Determine whether what you anticipated coincides with the information of the text.

Introduction to Economics

1. Why is it important to study economics or learn about our economy? There are many reasons, but one of the most important ones is concerned with how people get the goods and services they need and want. It also focuses on money - how it is made, lost, used and misused, issued and called in. When our economy does well, we as a nation and as people do well. When our economy is in stagnation, recession or even in crisis, the nation suffers and we as people don't always get the goods and services we need. Thus it is important for all people to be informed about the economy.

2. Throughout history there have always been people who obtained what they wanted or needed by force. The barbarians who sacked Rome practised this form of “economic activity,” and in modern times it is practised by armed robbers. But a society worthy of the name requires an orderly system of producing and distributing the necessities and luxuries of life. Such a system is essential to a stable society. Economics is the study of systems of production and distribution - which are called economies - and of their fundamentals, dynamics, and results.

3. Making it easier for understanding economics is the study of making choices. We need economics because we as individuals and as the society experience scarcity (of raw materials, of goods and services, of time, and so on) in relationship to our ever-growing needs and wants. Economics examines how we make choices: a new car or college tuition, more hospitals or more highways, more free time or more income from work? It gives us a way of understanding how to make best use of natural resources, machinery, and people's work efforts. Economics aims to explain how economies work and how economic agents interact. Economic analysis is applied throughout society, in business, finance and government, but also in education, the family, health, law, politics, religion, social institutions, war, and science. Common distinctions are drawn between various dimensions of economics: between positive economics and normative economics or between economic theory and applied economics. However the primary distinction is between microeconomics which examines the economic behaviour of agents (including individuals and firms) and macroeconomics addressing issues of unemployment, inflation, monetary and fiscal policy for an entire economy. Economists (experts in the science of economics) seek to measure well-being, to learn how well-being may increase overtime, and to evaluate the well-being of the rich and the poor.

4. One of the most important parts of the economy is a market which can refer to any place that brings together a buyer and a seller to agree on the price to exchange goods or services. Markets vary in size, range, geographic scale, location, types and variety of human communities, as well as the types of goods and services traded. A market can be very formal such as a shop, a parking lot, a financial market (the Stock Exchange) or it can be a car boot sale, selling goods from a street corner or an advert in a local newspaper.

5. National economics of every country is the study of how a nation, rather than an individual, can be made wealthy. In its study lies the answer to how all manufacturing that has moved to other countries and all jobs that have been outsourced can be returned to the country, how real wages can be dramatically increased, and how, at the same time, the people can have more leisure. We have the capability to completely eliminate poverty, provide excellent medical care to all, increase leisure time, reduce working hours, be wealthier, provide every family with a decent home, afford to live and raise children on a single salary, eliminate the national debt, eliminate all personal debts, and to produce almost everything we consume.

6. A national economy of any country can focus on producing all of the goods and services it needs to function, but this may lead to an inefficient allocation of resources and hinder future growth. It is more valid when each country concentrates on the production of one thing that it can do best. Determining how countries exchange goods is the backbone of international trade theory, as the part of the world economy. International economics describes and predicts production, trade, and investment across countries. Wages and income rise and fall with international commerce even in large and developed economies. In many countries, international economics is a matter of life and death. Economics as a field began in England in the 1700s with a debate over issues of free international commerce, and the debate continues.

7. The concept of business economics as a science can comprehensively be described with the saying “The economy is to business as the ocean is to fish”. It is the environment in which business operates. The more you know about this environment, the better you will function as a manager, analyst, and decision-maker.