Текст книги "Английский разговорный язык. Практическое пособие по развитию устной речи"

Socialism

Socialism is defined as a system of centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production. It was meant to be a remedy for economic and moral defects of capitalism, but it seems to have surpassed capitalism in economic malfunction and moral cruelty.

Karl Marx is thought to be the architect of socialism, but in reality he wrote only a few pages about this system of economic life. It was Lenin, who was the first to put it in practice by trying to substitute the profit drive and the market mechanism with a pyramid of command as a cornerstone of the economy.

After Soviet production had fallen to 14 percent of its prerevolutionary level, Lenin in 1921 was forced to institute the New Economic Policy (NEP), a partial return to the market incentives of capitalism, which was eventually aborted by Stalin who started the process of forced collectivization that was to mobilize Russian industrial resources.

At the apex of the socialist pyramid of command was Gosplan, which defined the target rate of growth of the economy, the ratio between military and civilian outputs, between heavy and light industry, or among various regions. Gosplan's directives were transmitted to ministries of industrial and regional planning, and then to particular factories, power centres, and collective farms. A completed plan was negotiated, and passed into law.

The plan defined all units of national output, as well as the order and technologies by which those were to be produced. In theory such a plan could provide a good basis for a working economy. But in reality there was a vast and widening gap between theory and practice.

The number one problem was that the plan specified outputs in physical terms, and managers maximized tonnages of output, not its quality. So, low-quality Soviet products lost competition to better products from abroad which the «black market» offered, while the home warehouses and stores were stuffed with homemade goods. Secondly, the economic flow became increasingly clogged and clotted due to the fact that planners in Moscow could not efficiently for see all the situations of the on-site production in the provinces or elsewhere. But the real danger of socialism was that of a bureaucratization of economic life. A capitalist firm responds to challenges offered by the economy by changing prices and innovating because failure to do so will cause it to lose money.

A socialist ministry ignores these challenges because bureaucrats learn that doing something is more likely to get them in trouble than doing nothing, unless doing nothing results in absolute disaster.

Absolute economic disaster was reached in the Soviet Union and its Eastern former satellites, which made President Mikhail Gorbachev announce his intention to reconstruct the economy from top to bottom by introducing the market, reestablishing private ownership, and opening the system to free economic interchange with the West. Seventy years of socialism had come to an end.

Слова и выражения:

abort – прерывать (обыч. беременность)

apex – вершина, макушка

architect – архитектор

bureaucrat – бюрократ

bureaucratization – бюро – кратизация

centrally – централизованно

challenge – «вызов», опасность

clog – засорять, забивать

clot – сгущаться, тромбировать(ся), забивать

cornerstone – краеугольный камень

cruelty – жестокость

directive – директива

disaster – катастрофа, беда

failure – неудача, провал

force – сила; вынуждать силой

forsee – предвидеть

gap – провал, разрыв, пробел

ignore – игнорировать

institute – устанавливать, вводить

interchange – взаимообмен

malfunction – неправильное функционирование

maximize – максимизировать

ministry – министерство

mobilize – мобилизовать

partial – частичный

prerevolutionary – дореволюционный

ratio – коэффициент, соотношение

reestablish – восстанавливать

remedy – лекарство, лекарственное средство

stuff – вещество, вещи, мусор; набивать

surpass – превосходить, оставлять позади

target – цель

warehouse – склад (оптовый)

put in practice– ввести в практику

profit drive – стремление к прибыли

pyramid of command – командная пирамида

target rate of growth – целевые темпы роста

due to the fact – благодаря тому факту

on-site – «на месте»

is more likely – в большей степени вероятно

from top to bottom – сверху донизу

Exercise 4

Answer the questions:

1. What is the definition of socialism?

2. Who is usually thought to be the architect of socialism?

3. What was Lenin trying to substitute the profit drive and the market mechanism with?

4. What made Lenin introduce NEP?

5. What was the role of Gosplan?

6. What was the number one problem for the socialist planning?

7. What products were the Soviet goods to compete with?

8. Why was the economic flow increasingly clogged and clotted in the Soviet economic system?

9. What was the real danger of socialism for the national economic system?

10. What intention did Mikhail Gorbachev announce?

Communism and Economics

During the days of communism in the Soviet Union, an inspector was encharged with visiting local chicken farmers and inquiring about the amount of feed they were giving their chickens. Central planning was still in effect and each farmer was allocated 15 Roubles to spend on chicken feed.

One farmer very honestly answered that he spent five of the allocated 15 Roubles on chicken feed. The inspector took this to mean that the farmer stole the other ten and sent the farmer to prison.

Having heard of this, the next farmer down the road insisted that he spent all 15 Roubles on food for the chickens. The inspector saw this as a case of deficit spending and the second farmer too was imprisoned.

The third farmer heard of both episodes and was more prepared for the inspector's arrival.

«How many of the 15 Roubles do you actually spend on chicken feed,» asked the inspector.

Like a true capitalist, the farmer threw his hands in the air and answered, «Hey! I give 15 Roubles to the chickens. They can eat whatever they want!»

Buy Machine for a Socialist Factory

An American manufacturer is showing his machine factory to a potential customer from The Soviet Union. At noon, when the lunch whistle blows, two thousand men and women immediately stop work and leave the building.

«Your workers, they're escaping!» cries the visitor. «You've got to stop them.»

«Don't worry, they'll be back,» says the American. And indeed, at exactly one o'clock the whistle blows again, and all the workers return from their break.

When the tour is over, the manufacturer turns to his guest and says, «Well, now, which of these machines would you like to order?»

«Forget the machines,» says the visitor. «How much do you want for that whistle?»

Слова и выражения:

allocate – распределять, размещать

blow – дуть, гудеть, свистеть

encharge – давать задание

escape – спасаться, убегать

potential – потенциальный

whatever – что бы ни, какие бы ни

whistle – свисток, гудок

amount of feed – количество корма

be in effect – быть в действии

machine factory – машиностроительный завод

lunch whistle – гудок на обеденный перерыв

Exercise 5

Answer the questions:

1. What was the inspector encharged with?

2. What type of an economic system was still in effect in Russia in the days of the inspector's visit to the farm?

3. How did the first farmer spend 15 roubles given to him?

4. Why was the second farmer imprisoned?

5. What would you do if you were a chicken given 15 roubles to?

6. What factory was the American manufacturer showing to a potential customer from the Soviet Union?

7. How many people worked at this factory?

8. Why did the Soviet customer think that the workers were escaping?

9. Why did the workers come back?

10. Why did the customer want to buy the whistle, and not the machines?

Fascism

The word «fascism» comes from the Latin fasces, and means a bundle of rods with an axe in it. In economics, fascism is viewed upon as a third way between free trade capitalism and communism. Private property and the profit motive are quite welcome within fascist economy if they do not conflict with the interests of the state.

The classical expample of fascism in economics was Italy in the days of Mussolini, where it grew out of syndicalism and nationalism. The syndicalists supposed that economy ought to be governed by groups representing various industries. The nationalists put forward the idea of national struggle. Italy was a proletarian nation suffering from the unfavourable results of World War I, they said, and to win a greater share of the world's wealth, all of Italy's classes must unite. Mussolini was a syndicalist who turned nationalist during World War I.

In Mussolini's Corporative State all economic decisions were made by councils composed of workers and employers who represented different trades, and who were supposed to resolve all the conflicts between classes and industries. These counsels aimed at preventing the class struggle from undermining the national struggle. All the economic life was supervised by the government.

After Mussolini became dictator in 1925, he began a program of massive deficit spending, public works, and eventually, militarism.

Preparing for the coming war, Mussolini extensively used protectionist measures to turn the economy toward economic self-sufficiency. Government bureaus had to purchase Italian products only, and increased tariffs on imports were introduced in 1931, along with high import quotas, and embargo on industrial goods.

Eventually profit motive was being reduced after Mussolini eliminated the ability of business to make independent decisions. The government now controlled all prices and wages, it regulated agriculture by dictating crops and breaking up farms. Banking system was also controlled to an extraordinary extend.

Later, in the 30s and early 40s Hitler's nazism shared many features with Italian fascism, including the syndicalist front. Nazism, too, featured complete government control of industry, agriculture, finance, and investment.

As World War II came closer, the signs of fascism's failure in Italy were visible: private consumption had fallen to the level below that of 1929s, and the industrial production between 1929 and 1939 was much lower than the rates for other Western European countries. Labour productivity was low and production costs were uncompetitive. The fault lay in the shift of economic decision-making from entrepreneurs to government bureaucrats, and in the allocation of resources by government decisions rather than by free markets. Mussolini designed his system to satisfy the needs of the state, not of consumers. In the end it turned out that neither was satisfied.

Слова и выражения:

ability – способность, возможность

allocation – распределение, размещение

axe – топор

bundle – связка

bureau – бюро

compose – составлять

council – совет

dictator – диктатор

eliminate – уничтожать, упразднять

extensively – экстенсивно, активно

extraordinary – экстраординарный, сверхъестественный

fascism – фашизм

fault – ошибка, недостаток

feature – являть собой, рисовать

militarism – милитаризм

nationalism – национализм

nazism – нацизм

proletarian – пролетарский

purchase – приобретать

reduce – сокращать

resolve – разрешать, решать

rod – прут

satisfy – удовлетворять

shift – сдвиг

suffer – страдать

supervise – осуществлять надсмотр

syndicalism – синдикализм

undermine – подрывать

be welcome – быть желательным

World War I – Первая мировая война

turn nationalist – превратиться в националиста

Corporative State – корпоративное государство

aim at preventing – иметь своей целью предотвращение

class struggle – классовая борьба

massive deficit spending – значительные по объему расходы, создающие бюджетный дефицит

public works – гражданские работы

protectionist measures – протекционистские меры

self-sufficiency – самодостаточность

syndicalist front – синдикалистский фронт

turn out – оказываться

Exercise 6

Answer the questions:

1. Where does the word «fascism» come from?

2. How do private property and the profit motive correlate with the interests of the state under fascism?

3. What did economic fascism in Italy grow from?

4. What was for the Italian nationalists the sure way to win a greater share of the world's wealth?

5. How were economic decisions made in Mussolini's Corporative State?

6. What program did Mussolini begin in 1925?

7. What measures were taken to make Italy self-sufficient economically?

8. What do Mussolini's fascism and Hitler's nazism, as economic systems, have in common?

9. What signs of fascism's failure in Italy were visible before World War II?

10. Whose needs did Mussolini want to satisfy by building the system of Corporative State?

2. Экономические учения
(Economics)

1

– What is Economics?

– Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

2

– What is an Economist?

– An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.

3

– How do Economists work?

– Economists don't answer the questions others make because they know what the answer is. They answer because they are asked.

4

– Why is Economics so helpful?

– Economists have forecasted 9 out of the last 5 recessions.

5

A study of economics usually reveals that the best time to buy anything is last year.

Economics and Life

1

A grade school teacher was asking students what their parents did for a living. «Tim, you be first. What does your mother do all day?»

Tim stood up and proudly said, «She's a doctor.» «That's wonderful. How about you, Amy?» Amy shyly stood up and said, «My father is a mailman.» «Thank you, Amy» said the teacher. «What does your parent do, Billy?» Billy proudly stood up and announced, «My daddy plays piano in a brothel.» The teacher was aghast and went to Billy's house and rang the bell. Billy's father answered the door. The teacher explained what his son had said and demanded an explanation. Billy's dad said, «I'm actually an economist. How can I explain a thing like that to a seven-year-old?»

2

The mathematician's child and the economist's child were in the third grade together, and the teacher asked, «If one man with one shovel can dig a ditch in ten days, how long would it take ten men with ten shovels to dig the same ditch?» Both children raised their hands.

The teacher said to the mathematician's child, «Johnny, how long?» and little Johnny said, «One day, teacher.»

The teacher looked at the economist's child and said, «John Maynard, is that right?»

Little John Maynard said, «Teacher, it all depends.»

Слова и выражения:

aghast – пораженный ужасом, ошеломленный

dig – копать

ditch – канава

explanation – объяснение

extremely – в высшей степени

forecast – прогнозировать

mailman – почтальон

announce – объявлять

brothel – груб. публичный дом

predict – предсказывать

proudly – гордо

recession – спад (в эконо – мике)

reveal – показывать, открывать, обнажать

shovel – лопата

shyly – скромно, застенчиво

do for a living – зарабатывать на жизнь

how long would it take – сколько это заняло бы времени

it depends – это зависит (от многих обстоятельств)

Exercise 1

Answer the questions:

1. Who is economics most useful for?

2. What will economist know tomorrow?

3. Why do economists answer questions when asked?

4. When is the best time to buy things, according to economics?

5. Why couldn't Billy's father explain to his son what he did for his living?

3

Two government economists were returning home from a field meeting. As with all government travellers, they were assigned the cheapest seats on the plane so they each were occupying the centre seat on opposite sides of the aisle.

They continued their discussion of the knotty problem that had been the subject of their meeting through takeoff and meal service until finally one of the passengers in an aisle seat offered to trade places so they could talk and he could sleep. After switching seats, one economist remarked to the other that it was the first time an economic discussion ever kept anyone awake.

Monetarism

One of the principal monetarist propositions is the association between money growth and inflation: inflation is produced if sustained money growth exceeds the growth of output. If a government wants to end inflation or produce deflation, money growth must be lower than the growth of output. In the years since World War II, almost all countries experienced inflation. Some countries, such as Chile, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and the United States have increased or reduced inflation at different times by speeding up or reducing the rate of money growth. In some of these countries the changes in money growth and inflation have ranged over hundreds or thousands of percentage points.

The Federal Reserve System (the US Central Bank) increased money growth in the late sixties to finance government spending for the Vietnam War and for the War on Poverty. As the result inflation increased. By the late seventies money growth was nearly 7 percent a year on average and inflation reached an 8 percent average. On the whole prices doubled in less than a decade. Money growth slowed and remained low after the middle eighties. In the five years ending in 1991, inflation and money growth were back at the levels of 1965 to 1969. Table

1 shows these and other periods.

U.S. Money Growth and Inflation

(compound annual rates in percent)

Money Growth Inflation

1960–64 2.8 1.6

1965–69 4.9 3.7

1970–74 6.0 6.0

1975–79 6.9 7.9

1980–84 6.6 7.3

1985–89 7.2 3.5

1987–91 4.4 3.8

There is a general association between money growth and inflation, but this relation is not mechanical. Although average money growth remained high in the years from 1985 to 1989, inflation fell. It shows that money growth in excess of output growth is a necessary but not the only condition for inflation.

A second monetarist idea is the relation between inflation and the interest rates. When inflation is going to be high, interest rates on the open market are high. In addition the foreign-exchange value of a currency falls relative to more stable currencies. Interest rates in 1989 reached 8,000 percent a year in Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav dinar depreciated against the dollar from 0.03 to 1, to 10.6 to 1. At the same time Brazilian currency (under various names) fell from 0.01 to 177. The relation betweeen inflation and money growth is accounted for by the fact that high growth of money causes a flight from money that makes the currency worthless. Governments can control these effects of inflation for a short time, but they cannot do it permanently.

Currency depreciation or appreciation can be affected by numerous factors, such as growth of defense spending, government purchases, tax rates, productivity growth at home and abroad, and foreign decisions. Among them inflation is the most important: sustained inflation induces depreciation, and disinflation induces appreciation, as monetarists say.

A third monetarist proposition concerns the relation between inflation and output. When inflation increases, output often rises for a time above its trend rate. Deflation has the opposite effect, and recessions follow.

These monetarist assumptions about inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, and output, as well as about their interrelation are now widely accepted by policymakers. Central bankers follow guidelines for money growth, as they are well aware nowadays of the risks and the costs of inflation, their principal task being the maintenance of price stability.

Слова и выражения:

accept – принимать

affect – оказывать воздействие

annual – годичный, ежегодный

appreciation – повышение стоимости

average – средний

aware – сознающий, понимающий

compound – совокупный, составной

concern – забота, озабоченность; быть озабоченным

currency – валюта

decade – десятилетие

defense – оборона, защита

deflation – дефляция

depreciate – снижаться в стоимости, девальвироваться

depreciation – снижение стоимости, девальвация, амортизация

dinar – динар

disinflation – дизинфляция

exceed – превосходить

excess – избыток, превышение

exchange – обмен

flight – полет, побег, бегство

guideline – контрольные показатели

induce – побуждать, возбуждать, вводить

interrelation – взаимодействие

maintenance – поддержание

mechanical – механический

monetarism – монетаризм

permanently – постоянно

policymaker – политик, организатор, разработчик политических решений

poverty – бедность

proposition – утверждение, предположение

recession – спад в экономике

relative – относительный; здесь: относительно

slow – медленный; замедлять

stable – стабильный

sustain – поддерживать

value – ценность, стоимость

worthless – обесценившийся

money growth – рост денежной массы

speed up – ускорять

range over – здесь: превышать

percentage point – процентный показатель

on average – в среднем

compound annual rates – совокупный годичный показатель

in excess of – превышающий

interest rates – процентные ставки

foreign-exchange value – обменная стоимость

flight from money – бегство от денег

tax rates – налоговые ставки

foreign decisions – решения относительно международных проблем

trend rate – обычный для экономики показатель

well aware – хорошо понимающий, хорошо сознающий

Географические названия:

Chile – Чили

Israel – Израиль

Brazil – Бразилия

Argentina – Аргентина (также the Argentine)

Italy – Италия

Japan – Япония

Turkey – Турция

Vietnam – Вьетнам

Yugoslavia – Югославия

Exercise 2

Answer the questions:

1. Under what general conditions is inflation produced?

2. What does a government have to do if it wants to put an end to inflation?

3. Why did the Fed increase money growth in the US in the late sixties?

4. What is the relation between inflation and the interest rates?

5. Why do people «fly from money» in the periods of high growth of money?

6. What factors play key roles in the currency depreciation process?

7. What is the relation between inflation and output?

8. In what way do deflation and output interrelate?

9. What is the trend output rate?

10. What effect does monetarism have on real economic policies?