British economy

Look through the list of English words and (heir Russian equivalents before reading:

aircraft industry авиационная промышленность

engineering машиностроение

Immense необъятны]')

barley ячмень

oats овес

poultry industry птицеводство

securities ценные бумаги

bed пласт, слой

substantially в значительной степени

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles. There arc 6 countries in the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The territory of it is 224.000 square km. The population is 56,5 ml. people. The capital of the country is London.

The UK is a monarchy and the Queen is the head of the slate. But in fact it is ruled by the government with a Prime Minister at the head. The climate of Great Britain is mild, because of the influence of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

Britain lives by its industry and trade. With a population representing only 2 per cent of the world total, it is one of the largest trading nations in the world, providing about 10 per cent of world exports of manufactured goods.

Britain is a highly industrialized country and today 28 people work in manufacturing, mining and building for every one engaged in agriculture. Britain's major industries include iron and steel; engineering; including motor vehicles and aircraft, electrical and electronics manufacturing, textiles, chemicals, etc. The textile industry is considered to be the most extensive one: immense quantities of cotton and woolen goods and artificial silk are produced and exported. But great disadvantage of its economy is that it possesses very few of the raw materials necessary for its industry. Most of them must be imported.

The heart of England's industry are the Midlands. The textile and metal working industries have grown up there in and near the iron ore and coal mining districts. Birmingham is an important industrial centre in the Midlands. One can find any type of production here, from steel smelting to И manufacturing the most delicate articles: from motor cars & railway engines to pins and buttons.

Britain is also a big market for food and other consumer goods. British agriculture, though highly efficient, produces just about two-thirds on the country's food requirements. The main grain crops are wheal, barley, oats and rye. Potatoes and vegetables are grown in all parts of Britain. A wide ^Л variety of fruit, mostly apples, pears, cherries and plums, grow in the gardens and orchards and there are large plantations of different berries allover the country. Cattle-breeding and sheep-farming arc also important branches of the British economy, its pig and poultry industries are glowing rapidly and acquiring greater importance nowadays.

In order to pay for the food and other materials it needs, Britain relies not only on the sales of manufactures. Of great importance is the "invisible export" — lb:; provision of services such as banking, insurances, shipping, aviation and tourism. The heart of all this activity is the City of London, although there are other important centres in several large cities, especially in ports. The City contains probably the greatest concentration off financial expertise in the world. The London Stock Exchange, with its vast experience and world wide network of communications, is one of (lie world's markets in securities. Other important financial institutions in the City include the Bank of England as well as hundreds of commercial banks, British and foreign, and several large international commodity markets, for example for metals, rubber, grain, cocoa, coffee and tea.

The energy consumed in Britain comes from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power. There are also a few hydro-electric schemes, especially in Scotland. The main centre of coal-mining is Wales. With the discovery and exploitation of oil and natural gas from the bed of the North Sea, Britain has become self-sufficient in these kinds of energy. Nuclear power stations produce about 10 per cent of Britain's electricity although most electricity is produced by coal-fired or oil-fired power stations.

The national economy of Britain is vitally dependent on foreign trade. After Britain joined the European Economic Community, its foreign trade expanded substantially. Britain imports huge quantities of primary products and exports about a third of its manufactured goods. The main trade partners s are other developed countries — Germany, the United Stales, Japan, France, etc. Nowadays, there appeared additional opportunities to expand the volume of British trade after signing wide-scale trade agreements with the republics of CIS. The Republic of Belarus is a reliable partner and wide-scale trade contacts would be beneficial for both sides.

/. Answer the questions.

1. What are the main industries of Great Britain'?

2. What is the proportion between the population of Great Britain and quantity of manufactured goods of this country'?

3. What is the great disadvantage of the British economy?

4. What fruit and vegetables, arc grown in Britain? What branches of agriculture are also important in the British economy?

5. What raw materials must be imported for economy?

6. What is the City of London?

7. What can you say about the London Stock Exchange?

8. What arc other important financial institutions?

9. What is the main center of coal-mining?

10. What are the main trade partners of Britain?

The American economy is a free enterprise system. It has emerged from the labours of millions of American workers, from the efforts of thousands of private business people, from the activities of the federal government which has always been involved in regulating and guiding the U.S. economy.

By any standard, the American economy is greatly successful. With less than 5 per cent of the world's population, the United States in the early 1990s produced about 25 per cent of the world's output. U.S. productivity and standard of living remain the highest in the industrial world. Over the past 70 years the money for personal consumption tripled in real purchasing power. The gross national product (GNP) per capita increased four times.

American economy is controlled by such well-known in the world monopolies as "General Motors", "Standard Oil" and others. The USA is the largest exporter of capital, in the capitalist world.

The leading industries of the USA are the coal, chemical, space, military industries; various machines and equipment of a high quality are also produced here. The richest industrial states are Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The USA has an advanced agriculture. The main crops are wheat (Nebraska), citric plants (California), tobacco, maize, soy-beans. Most Americans consider themselves members of the middle economic class, and relatively few are extremely wealthy or extremely poor. The medium annual income for all American families is more than 30.000 dollars.

Americans live, in a variety of housing that includes single detached homes, apartments, townhouses and mobile homes. More than half of all homes are owned by their occupants. The living space of all dwelling units is large enough — the medium number of rooms in each dwelling is 5.2 rooms per unit.

The federal government plays an important role in the U .S. economy. It has been most active in building roads, dams, canal systems, power stations and in the field of education. The United States leads the world in the percentage of the population that receives a higher education.

For farmers, the government has provided electricity, scientific advice, and a guaranteed minimum price for basic food crops. For all citizens, it checks the purity of food and drugs, insures bank deposits and guarantees certain types of loans for housing.

Despite the fact that U.S. government supports many segments of the nation economy, economists estimate that the public sector accounts for only one-fifth of American economic activity, with the remainder in private hands. The bulk of American's wealth is produced by private industries and businesses. Providers of goods and services include owners, managers and workers. Owners and managers make decisions on what and how to produce, relying on what they think the public will buy and expecting to earn profit from their business operations.

The average American workweek is 41 hours. Over 80 per cent of all wage and salary earners are covered by unemployment insurance. Unemployment in the United States is only 6 per cent. The government provides short-term unemployment compensation to replace wages lost between jobs. In addition, both the government and private industries provide job training and retraining to help the unemployed.