WORD STUDY

Ex. 8. Translate the words and phrases given in brackets.

 

1. Born in England, Ricardo (сколотил состояние) on the ((лондонской бирже). 2. Ricardo is especially famous in (международной экономике). 3. Ricardo developed a concept we now call (принцип сравнительного преимущества). 4. Ricardo pressed the Parliament (отказаться от) its traditional (политики протекционизма). 5. Comparative advantage (дало возможность) him to demonstrate . . . 6. His efforts (принесли плоды) in the 1840s.

Ex.9. Match the verbs on the right with the nouns on the left.

 

to demonstrate to exchange to develop to abandon to remove to make to achieve to press to bear to produce a fortune the government barriers goods a concept a policy the advantages fruit the goal the products

Ex. 10. Generate other forms from these words.

Verb Noun Adjective
  economy  
    active
to produce    
    united
to argue    
  creation  
  leadership  
to achieve    
    payable
  dedication  
to starve    

Ex. 11. Find in the text equivalents to the following words and word-combination.

 

неизбежность краха капитализма _____________________________________________

иметь неприятности с властями ______________________________________________

экономические силы ________________________________________________________

на протяжении всей истории _________________________________________________

прожить жизнь в ссылке _____________________________________________________

прикарманивать ____________________________________________________________

борьба за власть ____________________________________________________________

прибавочная стоимость ______________________________________________________

классовая борьба ____________________________________________________________

зарабатывать на жизнь ______________________________________________________

государство отомрет ________________________________________________________

«от каждого по способностям – каждому по потребностям»

__________________________________________________________________________

Ex. 12. Use the following words to complete the sentences below.

 

a living, death, dedication, struggles, efforts, authorities, owner, activities, value  

 

1. Marx’s revolutionary ______________ got him into trouble with the _______________.

2. Marx and his family might have starved to _______________.

3. Marx’s ______________ to his studies made it impossible for him to earn ___________.

4. He also argued that history has been a series of ______________ between economic classes.

5. According to Marx, goods and services had_________ because of the _________of workers.

6. Whatever was left over (profits) was pocketed by the factory ____________ – the capitalist.

 

Ex. 13. These are the answers to the questions. What are the questions?

 

1. On the London Stock Exchange.

2. “Principles of Political Economy and Taxation”

3. In the 1840s

4. Marx’s revolutionary activities

5. The Communist Manifesto

6. By economic forces

7. To those who created it: the workers

8. Because workers were underpaid

9. Once communism was achieved

10. “according to his ability” and “according to his needs”.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Text 4

ADAM SMITH AND “THE WEALTH OF NATIONS”

 

The year of 1776 marked the publication in England of one of the most important books of our time , “The Wealth of Nations”. Written by Adam Smith, it earned the author the title “the father of economics.”

Smith objected to the principal economic believes of his day. He differed with the physiocrats who argued that land was the only source of wealth. He also disagreed with the mercantilists who measured the wealth of a nation by its money supply, and who supported government regulation of the economy on order to promote a “favourable balance of trade.”

In Smith’s view, a nation’s wealth was dependent upon production, not agriculture alone. How much is produced, he believed, depended upon how well it combined labour and the other factors of production. The more efficient the combination, the greater the output, and the greater the nation’s wealth.

The heart of Smith’s economic philosophy was his belief that the economy would work best if left to function on its own without government regulation. In this case, self-interest would lead business firms to produce only those products that customers wanted, and to produce them at the lowest possible cost. They would do this in order to leave behind their competitors and make the greatest profit. This will provide the society with more and better goods and services at the lowest prices. To explain why all societies benefits when the economy is free of regulations, Smith used the metaphor of the “invisible hand.”

The “invisible hand” was Smith’s name for the economic forces that today would call supply and demand, or the marketplace. Thus, Smith agreed with the physiocrats, and their policy of “lassez-faire”, which let individuals and businesses function without government regulation. In that way the “invisible hand” was free to guide the economy and maximize production.