- •«Финансовый университет
- •Предисловие
- •Часть 1:
- •Часть 2:
- •Into the Modern Era (1950s – Present)
- •Vocabulary list
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Violence in Schools
- •Ian says:
- •Unit II
- •Vocabulary list
- •Text b What are Microeconomics and Macroeconomics?
- •Vocabulary List
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Part 2 Text a The system of higher education in the United States
- •Text b Education in the United States
- •Community Colleges
- •The Ivy League
- •Glossary
- •Unit III
- •Opportunity Costs
- •Vocabulary list
- •Planned Economies
- •Market Economies
- •Vocabulary list
- •Mixed Economy
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •How to Choose a University Course
- •Unit IV Part 1 Competition
- •Vocabulary List
- •Vocabulary List
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Part 2 TextA
- •Strengths and Weaknesses of a Student
- •How to be motivated to start studying
- •Instructions:
- •Tips & warnings
- •How to be a good student
- •Instructions:
- •Unit V Part 1 Money: History and Functions
- •History of the word “money”
- •Functions of money
- •Money as a medium of exchange
- •Money as a store of value
- •Money as a unit of account
- •Vocabulary list
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Money and the Meaning of Life
- •Respect & recognition
- •Personal satisfaction
- •Unit VI Part 1 Forms of Money
- •Commodity money
- •Metallic money
- •Metallic coins
- •History Paper money
- •Obligations
- •Gold Standard
- •Gold Exchange Standard
- •Vocabulary List
- •Intrinsic value, bill of exchange, scarcity, durability, fiat money, nominal value, gold standard, legal tender
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •It’s All Who You Know
- •The Effect of Part-Time Jobs on Students
- •Unit VII
- •Movements in individual prices and in the general price level
- •Measurement issues
- •Consumer Price Index
- •Measurement problems
- •Nominal and real variables
- •Vocabulary list
- •Hyperinflation
- •Vocabulary list
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Part 2 From College to Career
- •Navigate Change: 3 Tips to Manage the Transition from College to Career
- •1. Small Steps
- •2. Small Dreams
- •3. Big Belief
- •1. Do you prefer to study…
- •2. Do you study best…
- •3. Do you prefer to work…
- •Goldsmith to Banker
- •Vocabulary list
- •Text b The Bank of England
- •Vocabulary list
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Career: Economist
- •Unit IX Part 1 Globalization
- •The Pros and Cons of Globalization
- •Vocabularylist
- •Interaction, globalization, cross-border, controversial, vulnerability, interdependence, integration
- •Text b Russia and Globalization
- •Vocabulary list
- •Writing
- •Part 2 Why learn languages?
- •10 Good reasons why you should be learning a foreign language
- •Text a British educational and foreign language policy
- •I. Single European Market
- •II. European Monetary Institute
- •III. Ecb and the euro
- •Vocabulary List
- •Writing
- •Speaking
- •Part 2 Defining a 21st Century Education: At a Glance
- •Appendix I Communication Skills
- •Greetings and Introductions
- •Introductions – Social Language
- •Informal Greetings: Arriving
- •Informal Greetings: Departing
- •Travel Greetings - Social Language
- •Social Contacts: Starting a Conversation
- •Five Basic Facts
- •Hobbies / Free Time
- •Social Contacts: Speaking to Strangers; Special Days
- •Interrupting
- •Special Days
- •Social Contacts: Small Talk
- •Social Contacts: First Name, Last Name Or Title?
- •Expressing opinion
- •Making Suggestions
- •Construction
- •Stating a Preference
- •Construction
- •Disagreeing
- •Giving Advice
- •Construction
- •Contrasting Ideas
- •Construction
- •Asking for Information and Explanations
- •Construction
- •Task: Make up short dialogues using the above constructions. Demanding Explanations
- •Construction
- •Telephoning (I) Telephone English - Important Phrases
- •Telephone English - Leaving Messages
- •Telephoning (II) Business Telephone Conversation Patterns
- •Interrupting
- •Negotiations
- •Glossary
- •Negotiations Stages. The language
- •1 Opening the Negotiations
- •2 Clarifying Proposals
- •3 Exploring the Zone of Bargaining and Options
- •4 Bargaining
- •5 Entering the Critical Phase
- •Identifying obstacles:
- •6 Closing
- •The Negotiation Process
- •Language to use to show understanding/agreement on a point:
- •Language to use for objection on a point or offer:
- •Markus Opens the Negotiations
- •Appendix II
- •Summary Writing
- •If you must use the words of the author, cite them.
- •Gist Writing
- •Getting the gist
- •Appendix III
- •I. Preparation and Planning
- •I.1 Essential Preparation and Planning Checklist
- •I.2 Other questions concerning physical aspects.
- •II. Structure of an Oral Presentation
- •II.1.D Give title and introduce subject
- •II.1.E Give your objectives (purpose, aim, goals)
- •II.1.F Announce your outline.
- •II.3 The end or conclusion
- •II.3.A Content
- •II.3.B Dealing with difficult questions
- •Summary of Part II
- •III. Visuals
- •Vocabulary of graphs/chart
- •IV. A Relationship with the Audience
- •V. Body Language
- •VI. Voice and Pronunciation
- •Заключение
- •List of Literature
- •Internet sources:
- •Благодарности
- •Contents
Unit IV Part 1 Competition
competition, monopoly, oligopoly, perfect competition, product differentiation, incentive
Text A
Competition is the rivalry of two or more parties over something. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which coexist in an environment with limited resources. For example, animals compete over water supplies, food, and mates. In addition, humans compete for recognition, wealth and entertainment.
Competition can be remote, as in a free throw contest, or antagonistic, as in a standard basketball game. These contests are similar, but in the first one players are isolated from each other, while in the second one they are able to interfere with the performance of their competitors.
Competition gives incentives for self-improvement. If two watchmakers are competing for business, they will lower their prices and improve their products to increase their sales. If birds compete for a limited water supply during a drought, the more suited birds will survive to reproduce and improve the population.
Competition is another important force of the market. On the one hand, it protects the customers — they have the right of choice and they benefit from the fact that competition keeps prices close to costs; on the other hand, it makes producers and suppliers of scarce resources utilize them economically, using most sophisticated technologies.
All businesses produce goods and services and seek profits. They all compete with each other for inputs of labour, capital and natural resources, including foreign partners.
Seen as the pillar of capitalism in that it may stimulate innovation, encourage efficiency, or drive down prices, competition is touted as the foundation upon which capitalism is justified. According to microeconomic theory, no system of resource allocation is more efficient than pure competition. Competition, according to the theory, causes commercial firms to develop new products, services, and technologies. This gives consumers greater selection and better products. The greater selection typically causes lower prices for the products compared to what the price would be if there was no competition (monopoly) or little competition (oligopoly).
However, competition may also lead to wasted (duplicated) effort and to increased costs (and prices) in some circumstances. For example, the intense competition for the small number of top jobs in music and movie acting leads many aspiring musicians and actors to make substantial investments in training that are not recouped, because only a fraction become successful. Similarly, the psychological effects of competition may result in harm to those involved.
Three levels of economic competition have been classified:
The most narrow form is direct competition (also called category competition or brand competition), where products that perform the same function compete against each other. For example, a brand of pick-up trucks competes with several different brands of pick-up trucks. Sometimes two companies are rivals and one adds new products to their line so that each company distributes the same thing and they compete.
The next form is substitute or indirect competition, where products that are close substitutes for one another compete. For example, butter competes with margarine, mayonnaise, and other various sauces and spreads.
The broadest form of competition is typically called budget competition. Included in this category is anything that the consumer might want to spend their available money on. For example, a family that has $20,000 available may choose to spend it on many different items, which can all be seen as competing with each other for the family's available money.
Competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. For example, business writers sometimes refer to "internal competition". This is competition within companies. The idea was first introduced by Alfred Sloan at General Motors in the 1920s. Sloan deliberately created areas of overlap between divisions of the company so that each division would be competing with the other divisions. For example, the Chevy division would compete with the Pontiac division for some market segments. Also, in 1931, Procter & Gamble initiated a deliberate system of internal brand versus brand rivalry. The company was organized around different brands, with each brand allocated resources, including a dedicated group of employees willing to champion the brand. Each brand manager was given responsibility for the success or failure of the brand and was compensated accordingly. This form of competition thus pitted a brand against another brand. Finally, most businesses also encourage competition between individual employees. An example of this is a contest between sales representatives. The sales representative with the highest sales (or the best improvement in sales) over a period of time would gain benefits from the employer.
It should also be noted that in most countries competition often is subject to legal restrictions. For instance, competition may be legally prohibited as in the case with a government monopoly or a government-granted monopoly. Tariffs, subsidies or other protectionist measures may also be instituted by government in order to prevent or reduce competition. Depending on the respective economic policy, the pure competition is to a greater or lesser extent regulated by competition policy and competition law.
Competition between countries is quite subtle to detect, but is quite evident in the world economy, where countries like the US, Japan, the European Union and the East Asian Tigers each try to outdo the other in the quest for economic supremacy in the global market.
A monopoly (from Greek mono, alone or single + polo, to sell) is a persistent situation where there is only one provider of a product or service in a particular market. Monopolies are characterized by a lack of economic competition for the good or service that they provide and a lack of viable substitute goods. A government-granted monopoly or legal monopoly is sanctioned by the state, often to provide an incentive to invest in a risky venture. The government may also reserve the venture for itself, thus forming a government monopoly.