What is Economics?
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 512.
Historically the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland evolved as a _____1_____, with the government playing a passive role, allowing the _____2_____ of supply and _____3_____ to determine what was produced and the _____4_____ charged. However over a period of time the state has _____5_____ to eliminate the _____6_____ of the market economy so that today, alongside a large _____7_____, they have an important _____8_____ sector.
1.5.3 Complete the text. Replace the Russian words and phrases by the English equivalents.
Neither individuals nor societies can have all the things they would like to have. There simply is not enough of everything. Экономисты note that there is нет предела to the amount or kinds of things that people want. There is, however, a limit to the resources, things used to produce товары и услуги, available удовлетворять потребности. Once that limit is reached, nothing else can be produced. In other words, when a nation's ресурсы (all its workers, factories, farms, etc.) are fully employed, the only way it will be able увеличить производство of one thing will be by сокращение производства of something else. In short, человеческие потребностиare unlimited, but the resources required to satisfy those wants are ограничены. Thus every society is faced with the проблема дефицита .
Since there is a дефицит ресурсов societies must делать выбор about what they want most. Экономикаdeals with problems of дефицита и выбора. The basic problems of Economics are to determine the most efficient ways распределять ресурсы and solve the problem of scarcity created by society's unlimited wants and limited resources.
1.5.4 Text for discussion.
a. Look up the dictionary for the meaning and pronunciation of the following words and word-combinations and use them to discuss the problems outlined in the text.
A significant fault, intermediate, at one extreme… at the other extreme, individuals and businesses, exercise freedom of choice, government restrictions, in response to the demand, to avoid the disadvantages, enjoying the benefits, the private sector, the public sector, share of the output, taxation, transfer payments, healthcare, education, policing, defence.
b. Briefly scan the text and outline the list of major points.
c. Read the text more carefully and comment on the following items:
-The extremes of command and market economies.
-The common features of all economies in the world.
-The aim of mixed economies.
-The ways governments intervene in their economies.
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