Методичка Усвят НД. Российской федерации гоу впо алтайский государственный университет международный институт экономики, менеджмента и информационных систем в экономик
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Task 5. Find English equivalents for the following Russian expressions and words.
Task 1. Read and translate the text. Fiscal policy is one of the tools that governments have to keep the economy on a steady path. The two main components of fiscal policy are changes to the tax system and changes in government spending. But what changes can governments make in these two areas and how do changes affect the growth of the economy? Let’s look at the tax system and in particular at income tax. Income tax is one of the biggest sources of income for a government. Many governments operate a system called progressive taxation. This means that the more you earn, the more tax you pay. People are usually allowed to keep some of their income without paying any tax. This is called the personal allowance. The rest of their income is then taxed using the progressive system. For example:
Governments can decide to change the size of the personal allowance or change the percentage that each income group has to pay. If the economy is growing too fast and demand for goods and services is more than the economy can supply, the government will want to slow down spending. To do this they can decrease the personal allowance or they can increase the percentage to pay in tax. This will mean people have less disposable income and spending will slow down. If the economy is slowing down too much governments can do the opposite. What about government spending? How does that affect economic growth? The key to this is something called the multiplier effect. To understand how this works, let’s look at an example. Imagine that the economy is not growing. This will make aggregate demand fall. In turn, productivity falls. This situation means that the nation’s resources are not all being used. In other words, there are surplus raw materials, machines are not being used and workers are unemployed. What the economy needs is a pull in demand for goods and services. The government can provide this pull by spending a large amount of money on public projects. For example, imagine that the transport department decides to spend &200 million on building a new motorway. This will give work to building companies and jobs to unemployed workers. In other words, more resources are being used and the nation’s productivity is increased. Companies and workers on the motorway project will save some of the money they earn but also spend some. The money they spend will be income for others in the economy. If half of the &200 million is spent, then the total national income has grown by this much: &200 million + (0.5 x &200 million) Each time a proportion of the income is passed on, the economy grows again: &200 million + (0.5 x &200 million) + (0.5 x &100 million), etc. In theory, the multiplier effect will continue until there is full employment and the nation’s resources are being used to their fullest extent. Task 2. Now read the text again and answer these questions in your own words.
Task 3. Choose the correct answer A, B or C from the list opposite.
1. a. transport b. education c. defence 2. a. components b. allowance c. policy 3. a. income b. components c. capacity 4. a. absolute b. complete c. full 5. a. full b. disposable c. spending 6 a. allowance b. surplus c. capacity 7. a. personal b. public c. disposable 8. a. surplus b. shortage c. allowance 9. a. employment b. income c. capacity 10. a. path b. motorway c. railway 11. a. component b. project c. scheme 12. a. surplus b. progressive c. public Task 4. Make up an investment project. Background “Angel Investments” is based in Warsaw, Poland. It provides finance for start-up or young companies which need capital to develop their businesses. AI is run by a group of extremely rich people of various nationalities who made their fortunes in the computer and financial services industries. They enjoy the excitement of working with start-ups and small companies, and believe that Central and Eastern Europe offers outstanding opportunities for investment. They are willing to take risks and support projects which seem unusual or extraordinary. However they also expect to make money, usually by taking a stake in the business or a share of the profits. A team of AI investors is currently considering several proposals. After hearing presentations from individuals and companies, AI will decide which projects it will invest in, and how much money it will give to each one. They have €5.5 million to invest in the projects. You are an entrepreneur who needs finance for a new project; the rest of the group are AI investors. Key points for product presentations 1. The Business A description of the business
2. The Product or Service A brief description – including artwork, if possible.
3. Marketing
4. Finance
Proposals:
For Additional Reading Task 1.Translate the texts into Russian and analyze grammatical and lexical problems of the translation with your teacher. The Central Banking System A major sector of any modern monetary system is the central banking system, which is important to the functioning of the private economy and the fiscal operations of the national government. Central banking is an activity separate from ordinary commercial banking. It is difficult to give a brief definition of a central bank that is both comprehensive and accurate. The nature of a central bank depends largely on its functions, which vary according to time and setting. The most important characteristic of the modern central bank is its control over the monetary system. The central bank implements the government’s monetary policy by regulating the supply, cost and availability of money and credit. The central bank is also a country’s leading bank which acts as bankers to the government and the banking system. Here the central bank receives, holds, transfers and disburses funds of the central government. Furthermore, the central bank provides services related to the public debt. The central bank acts as the government’s broker in its borrowing and lending operations, it issues and deals in government securities. Services to the banking system include, for example, the clearing and collecting of checks and distribution of coins and paper currency. The US Treasury The US Treasury was created by Congress in 1789. Since that time it has been one of the major financial organizations in the USA. At present the Treasury performs the following functions.
Personal Finances Many people regard financial security as the most important thing in family finances. This is not the same thing as being rich. It means being freed from the need to think about money, living within your means. For day-to-day living you need ready cash but you also need a bit in reserve for a rainy day. The first thing to think about is your current account and how much is in it. Credit cards can be a helpful way of handling unexpected expenses but credit is always costly and of course it’s just another form of debt. For some people, the English and the Americans, however, living on credit is a normal way of life. They believe that credit enables them to enjoy the use of goods and services before they have fully paid for them. Such people are not afraid to use consumer credit (credit from suppliers, hire purchase and loans from banks) because they have an income. If they want to buy a house they almost always borrow the money in the form of a mortgage from a building society or a mortgage bank. They pay for expensive things in instalments by means of a hire purchase plan. People earn money in different ways. First of all they get an income from employment, then from keeping in a savings account with a bank, from renting property and from investing in shares in the stock market. People who are paid by the hour get wages. People who are paid on an annual basis get salaries and people paid for a particular service, get fees. The worst-off people are the unemployed and the homeless. For those living at a subsistence level, even buying essentials is a struggle. People on low incomes sometimes take out loans, borrow money from banks. Very often they are unable to cope with repayments and interest on loans. Banks are not willing to lend money to such people. |