2.7.1.5. Read the text “Activities of the Nobel Prize Winner w. W. Leontief,” translate it orally

and say in brief which work of this scientist is of practical application.

(!) Activities of the Nobel Prize Winner W. W. Leontief

Our compatriot, bom in Leningrad, Leontief obtained a post at the University of Kiel in Germany

in 1927. In 1931 he moved to Harvard and was appointed Professor of Economics there in

1946. In 1973 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. Apart from the works mentioned

below, his publications include Studies in the Structure of the American Economy (1953), Input-

Output Economics, Collected Essays (1966) and The Future of the World Economy (1977).

The interdependence of the various sectors of a country’s economy has long been appreciated

by economists. The theme can be traced from Cantillon and Quesnay and the “ tableau economique"

through Marx and Walras. The sheer complexity of the interactions and interrelationships between

the different sectors of a modem economy was a Gordian knot which had to be cut before the

theoretical structure could be translated into a practical reflection of an actual economy and serve

as the basis for policy recommendations. Leontief s achievement was to see the solution of this

problem in matrix algebra, and modem computers have made input—output analysis a practical

proposition. His book The Structure of the American Economy, 1919—1929, was first published in

1941, and a second edition, 1919-1939, appeared in 1951. In these studies he attempted, with the

limited statistical facts available to him, to establish a “ tableau economique" of the USA.

The economy was described as an integrated system of flows or transfers from each activity of

production, consumption or distribution to each other activity. Each sector absorbs the outputs

from other sectors and itself produces commodities or services which are in turn used up by other

sectors, either for further processing or for final consumption. All these flows or transfers were set

out in a rectangular table — an input—output matrix. The way in which the outputs of any industry

spread out through the rest of the economy could be seen from the elements making up the rows.

Similarly, the origins of its inputs could be seen directly from the elements of the appropriate column.

Given such a structure, the implications of a specific change in one part of the economy

could be traced through to all the elements in the system.

Commentary and Notes to Text 2.7.1.5

1. compatriot — соотечественник

2. the sheer complexity — абсолютная (полнейшая) запутанность

3. “tableau economique” — живая экономика

4. input—output analysis — анализ метода ≪затраты—выпуск≫

5. a Gordian knot — гордиев узел, запутанное сплетение различных обстоятельств

6. Cantillon, Richard — ирландский международный банкир, ученый-экономист (1680-1734)

7. Quesnay, Francois — французский ученый-экономист (1694-1774)

8. Walras, Marie Esprit Leon — швейцарский ученый экономист (1834-1910)

2.7.2. Match the following terms with the correct definition

Work with a partner.

1.imports a) A document which gives the importer authority iltsacedhnopywm. teh itropm

2. ex .)e itrcednpux ilfcedgnu (itrednpux rssaebdm itt-rr’sacenuum iltrsaceebdghnovy

fr’eoumports tscedn trsaedhnouywm .itIfrsaceouyT )fb

3. impor.y trcnou trsacedhnou tfrehop iracdhnyw trcnout licencec s iltrsaedgno ilfsacednovw itfrcehnw T)

4. consu tsceno .iltrsacedgnopuym tnommption

tsaenm itrsaeghnouvym tfeoT )d

34

ment

of debt.

родного газа

ном выражении

дуктов переработкиexport

of high technologies-экспорт

высоких

agricultural exports-экспорт

продукции с/х

5. competition policy e) The goods and services produced by one country which are

sold to another in exchange for the second country’s own

goods and services, for gold and foreign exchange or in settle-