I reserve Шselling в shortages (x2)
ч
The government can create
(1) of money for commercial
banks by (2) securities.
Securities are a way to (3)
money to the government at an agreed rate of interest. This is what is known as open market operations.When people buy securities the money supply (4) This causes
) in the commercial banks'
) accounts, so they have to
Macroeconomics: the
science of economicgrowth
and stability
T
С Listening H)))
Now you're going to hear someone talking about open market operations. Listen and check your answers.
Before you read
Discuss these questions with your partner.
-» Economists sometimes talk about economic shocks.
What do you thmk this might mean? What might cause a shock to the economy?
fiJ D Vocabulary
Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the box.
disrupt go on strike gross national product knock-on effect miner sharply stagflation ■ unrest
The total value of a country'sgoods rindservices consumed in one year is called the
If people are not happy with their government, there may be political
Being a and digging underground
to bring out minerals, must be very dangerous.
Some people as a way of showing
their unhappmess with work conditions or pay.
If we have there is a sharp drop
in production of some goods causing their price to rise.
A fallen tree can the electricity
Prices
have risen but unfortunately
wages
haven't.
A-95
A-92 нет
a-76
нет
Д
T НЕТ
Economic shocks
Governments try their K-st to control economic growth, hut there are some things that nolxjdy oan control For example war, political unrest in another country or simply a change in the weather can all affect an economy in unexpected ways. Sometimes the effect of these events will cause a sudden shift in aggregate demand or aggregate supply. This is an economic *1ич'к.
M
a in (I'll I» 1 . n г и tJml 79
Kxternal demand-side slux'ks happen when a country relies heavily on exports or on foreign investment. The (ireat Depression in the 1 Vis is a classic example of this. At the time of the (ireat Depression, many countries exported their goods to the 1'SA. and many other countries relied on American money for investments to help their industries grow. When the American economy collapsed, it had disastrous effects for other economies, too.
Su))})ly-si<k' shocks occur when the supply of goods is disrupted. If the commodity is an important raw material for many industries, then the supply from these industries will drop dramatically. When raw materials are in short supply, they become more expensive. This will cause an increase in manufacturers' variable costs Manufacturers will then have to increase their prices
Imagine, for example, that miners in the iron industry went on strike. The supply of iron and steel to manufacturers would be disrupted. This would mean a drop in supply ol all sorts of goods, from teaspoons to aeroplanes. As you can see from figure 2 below, the sudden drop in supply will cause a shift in the supply curve. As a result, prices rise even though aggregate demand stays the same. This unfortunate situation is called stagflation
figure 7: Aggregate Supply Shock
Now read the text again and choose the best way to finish each sentence.
An economic shock causes ... prices to rise, a demand or supply shift, demand to fall.
Demand-side shocks of a domestic nature ... are caused by events in another country, are only caused because cf a fall in property prices, are caused by events at home.
The Great Depression is an example of... an external demand-side shock, an external supply-side shock, a domestic demand-side shock.
Supply-side shocks can cause ... a fall invariable costs, an increase in variable costs, a fall in fixed costs.
Stagflation is when ...
prices fall but output rises, prices rise and output rises, prices rise and output falls.
A positive supply-side shock is when ... prices fall but output rises, prices rise and output rises, prices rise and output falls.
Before you listen
Discuss the following with your partner.
80
Чип
а
*
Gu'<ie to t г
элеп- ( i en f S
Rise
in pnevs
Before
the sb<K к
Aggregate
Demand
Fait
in ou :put <
Real National Output
The good news, however, is that sometimes positive supply-side shocks happen. These occur when there is a sudden increase in supply while demand stays the same This can happen when new technology makes the production of materials or products much easier or more efficient. The result - prices fall and output grows.
An embargo happens when a country stops trading with another. In 1973, there was an embargo on oil. What effects do you think this had on the world's economies?
Now listen and complete the notes.
After industrial nations enjoyed
economic growth.
They used huge amounts of
A lot of oil came from countries in the
The embargo began on the 1973.
Prices of oil rose to times higher
than before.
The New York Stock Exchange lost
dollars in a few weeks.
В
F Listening H)))
G Speaking
Discuss the following with your partner.
Look at figure i on page 78 and figure 2 on page 80 again.Take turns explaining to your partner what the diagrams show.
Work in groups of three or four. Discuss the effects that these events might have on the economy in your country. Use phrases to describe economic shocks as seen in text 2. Use the space below to make your notes.
coal miners go on strike
large amounts of oil and gas are discovered in Australia
the government provides a free Internet service to anyone who wants it
Pronunciation guide
Equilibrium i:kvu rbriam Asset a* set
Homeowner ii.% ,n> n Disastrous <J /ычкъ Stagflation st;r< i lie11n Embargo iniKopi.
Write an essay describing how interestrates are set in the money market. First read through text 1 again and make notes.Then use the plan to help you organise your essay.
Essay
INTRODUCTION
What are interest rates and w'ny art? they important for the economy?
PARAGRAPH 1
What does the money supply consist of? What is demand and supply in the money market?
PARAGRAPH 2
How is the interest rate set by the money market?
PARAGRAPH 3
How does the government try to influence the interest rate?
CONCLUSION
Sum up in a couple of sentences what you have said in paragraphs one to throe.
Write 200-250 words
fac
Unit
Before you read
Discuss these questions with your partner.
Jbp
^
fif A Vocabulary
Sf
When something is in the , it
is an important story in the news.
When parents are unemployed it is difficult for a family to make ends
The of living m cities like London and
Tokyo is very high.
People prefer to shop in supermarkets because they find a wide of goods there.
The : i industry includes shops,
supermarkets and department stores.
' In statistics, when a number ie it is multiplied by another number to show its importance.
The is the person or thing that is
responsible for doing somelliing bad.
It is difficult for old people to with
living on a small pension.
• In maths, a/an is a sum which
is equal on both sides.
The speed that something travels at is called
82
м.,„ j > G i. • d m l с Г < о ' о m - • lh«l 16
jadinq 1
Inflation
Inflation is an overall increase in prices over a certain period of time. It's also a worry for anybody who's trying to make ends meet, ami a headache for many governments. The rate of inflation is often in the headlines. However, inflation isn't really news. In most of Кurope, for example, prices have risen year after year for at least the last 5o years. Deflation (overall decreasi in prices) does happen occasionally, but the trend is mostly for the cost of liv ing to increase.
There are lots o| ways to measure inflation. (>ne of the most popular ways is the retail price inr/сл This is calculated by recording increases in price for a range of goods and serv ices. This is .sometimes called a haxket of goods. Some of the goods are weighted more heavily than others liecause the\ are more important For example, food will be weighted more than the cost of a cinema ticket, because a 5'V> increase in food is more important than a 10% increase in the cost of seeing a tilm. Inflation is worked out from an average of all the price increases in the basket.
Inflation can happen for a number of' reasons. Init economists say there are two main culprits. These are denutml-pull inflation and cast-push inflation. Demand-pull inflation can happen when tin- economy is growing last. Aggregate demand begins to grow faster than suppliers can cope with. This causes .1 shortage, ami prices rise. At first, customers may he able to pay the higher prices, and demand grows again. This forces prices up even more, and the cycle continues.
< >ne of the characteristics of demand-pull inflation is that there is often too much money going round the economy This is explained by the quantity theory of money This theory use's the following equation:
money supply x velocity average price x transactions
Wlocity is the speed that money is passed on from one jx-rson to another. Some economists say that velocity and the numlvr of transactions don't really change. The only things that change in this equation are the money supply and average prices This means that when the motley supply increases, prices will increase too. For this reason, printing пюпеу is rarely a solution for economic crises.
(lost-push inflation, on the other hand, occurs when prices rise without an increase in demand This happens when suppliers' variable costs increase sharply. For example, workers may demand higher wages or raw materials may become more expensive. Producers then pass these increases on to consumers by raising prices. S<>, as usual, we are the ones who pay!
Now read the text again and match each paragraph with the correct heading.
PARAGRAPH 1
PARAGRAPH 2
PARAGRAPH 3
PARAGRAPH 4
PARAGRAPH
Measuring inflation Too much cash
The effects of aggregate demand on inflation Production cost changes Inflation is a fact o£ life
Before you listen
Discuss the following with your partner.
people
on
a
fixed income
banks
businesses
exporters
A lose money on loans
В can't get investment
С are not so competitive
D can't buy as much with their money
Before you read
Discuss these questions with your partner.
Look at the photo and answer these questions:
What are these people doing? -» Нот» do yon think they ieel? Why? -* Why do you suppose they are in this situation?
ff D Vocabulary
л
- bnomEii JAMH
MAX
it
84
can't be bothered ■ contracts freelance mobility obsolete region i relocate» retrain shipyard tastes
People's ш clothes change with
fashion and with their age.
If you to do something, you just
don't feel like doing it.
. When something it gets smaller.
A is an area of a country.
When a company to another part
of the country or abroad, many workers lose their jobs.
-workers are not employees for a
company, but are self-employed.
If something is it no longer exists
because it isn't needed anymore.
If you lose your |ob due to mechanisation, you
may have to go to college and for
something else.
A is where ships are built.
Your is your ability to move from
one place to another.
В Reading 2
Unemployment
There will always be a certain amount of unemployment in (lie eeonoinv. When economists talk alxHit/u// employment they mean that everyone who can work ami wants to work has got a job Able workers who are not working are simply not happy with the salaries that are offered or just can't be bothered'
However, economies rarely reach full employ niein. There are a number of reasons for this, and a number of different types of unemployment. < >m ofthesi is cyclical unemployment. This type of unemployment varies with the growth and recession cycle of the economy As the economy grows, demand l'or labour grows and unemployment falls As the economy contracts, unemployment grows
800
w
ЧЕЛОЬЕК
<
БЕЗ
РАБОТЬЯ
forced many shipyards to closc. This caused huge unemployment in the region.
How long structural unemployment lasts will depend on two things. Firstly, how easily the workforce can retrain for new jobs. This may he difficult for older workers who tind it hard to learn new skills. There is also the question of who pays for the training. The second issue is mobility. Workers who arc able to relocate easily to another part of the country will find new jobs more quickly.
There are two other kinds of unemployment which we should mention here. These are less serious, perhaps, but they are still difficult for governments to get rid of. The first is /fictional unemployment. This is a natural kind of unemployment that occurs when someone leaves a job and is looking for another one that suits them. Frietional unemployment often happens Ivcausc people want to leave their job in order to change careers. Few people walk straight into another job. However, when the economy is in recession, frietional unemployment will be more common because jobs are harder to tind.
The second kind is seasonal unemployment Some industries have busy |x>riods and jieriods where there is 110 work at all. Some freelance farm workers, for example, get most of their work in the spring and summer. Like structural unemployment, seasonal unemployment can affect whole regions of a country. Areas that rely 011 summer tourism, for example, suffer serious unemployment during the autumn and winter months.
Which kind of unemployment may happen because someone wants it? cyclical unemployment structural unemployment frietional unemployment seasonal unemployment Which kind of unemployment happens because of changes in economic growth? cyclical unemployment structural unemployment frietional unemployment seasonal unemployment
Which kind of unemployment happens in particular parts of the country? (2 answers) cyclical unemployment structural unemployment frictionai unemployment seasonal unemployment
Before you listen
Discuss these questions with your partner.
The chart below shows the trends in unemployment in two countries. Look at the chart, and answer these questions.
What does the vertical axis show?
What does the horizontal axis show?
What two countries are shown?
-» How many years are shown?
T
F Listening H)))
Now listen and write the correct percentages on the chart.The first answer has been done for you.
E Comprehension
-Germany
USA
1997
1995
1999
2001
2003
2006
Which kind of unemployment happens regularly every year?