Unit one

WHY STUDY ECONOMICS

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

1. Achieve v – to successfully complete something or get a good result, especially by working hard – досягати, добиватися. To achieve/gain/reach/ one’s aim/goal/ purpose – досягти своєї мети.

2. Affect v – to bring about a change in something – впливати. Syn. to influence.

3. Business n – the activity of making money by producing or buying and selling goods or providing services – бізнес, підприємництво, справа. Business management – управління комерційним підприємством; business world – діловий світ. To succeed in business – досягти успіху в підприємницькій діяльності. Syn. entrepreneurship.

4. Choice n – the act of choosing or selecting; the right or possibility of choosing – вибір; альтернатива, можливість вибору. To have no choice – не мати вибору, to make a choice – робити вибір. Syn. an alternative, a pick, a trade-off.

5. Costs – the money that must regularly be spent in order to run a business, a home, a car etc – витрати, затрати. Production costs – виробничі витрати.

6. Decision (about/on) n – a settlement of a question, a making up of one’s mind – рішення. Business decision – рішення щодо/стосовно комерційних питань/ділові рішення, career decision – рішення щодо кар’єри. To arrive at/come to/make/ take a decision/to decide – приймати рішення.

7. Do with v – to have relations to; to be connected with – мати справу з чимось, займатися чимось. Syn. to be concerned with, to deal with.

8. Economics n. – a science dealing with production, distribution, consumption, and exchange of commodities - економіка. Applied economics – прикладна економіка, business economics – економіка підприємств.

9. Economy n – an organized system for production, distribution, exchange and consumption of the wealth of society – господарство, економічна система, економіка. Advanced economy – розвинена економіка/держава, national economy – народне господарство.

10. Effect n – the result or consequence of an action – вплив, наслідок, результат. Cause and effect – причина та наслідок. To have an effect on - впливати. Syn. a consequence, a result.

11. Efficiency n – the quality of doing something well – ефективність, продуктивність. Economic efficiency – економічна ефективність/ рентабельність, production/productive efficiency – ефективність виробництва. Syn. performance, productivity.

12. Enable v – to make it possible for or to allow a person to do something – давати можливість, право.

13. Issue n – an important subject of debate, a question that arises for discussion – проблема, предмет суперечки/спірне питання. Economic issue – важлива економічна проблема. Syn. a matter, a problem, a question.

14. Living n – means of keeping alive or earning what is needed for life – засоби існування; спосіб життя. Living wage/cost of living – прожитковий мінімум, standard of living – рівень життя/життєвий рівень. To earn/draw/gain/get/make a living – заробляти на прожиття. Syn. livelihood.

15. Manage v – to direct, or control an activity of, business or organization – керувати, управляти. Syn. to run.

16. Profit n – the excess of revenues over expenses in a business enterprise over a given period of time, usually a year – прибуток, дохід, зиск. To earn/draw/gain/ get/make a profit – отримувати/отримати прибуток. Syn. an income.

17. Track v – to pay attention to the behaviour, development, course or progress of someone or something over time – бути в курсі справи, відслідковувати, стежити за чимось. Syn. to trace.

18. Way n – a method that is used to do or achieve something. A way of life – спосіб життя one way or another/in some way - так чи інакше. To go out of one’s way – намагатися з усіх сил, to put it another way – іншими словами. Syn. a method, a means.

Text

Why do people find economics so important? Economics isn’t a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in business or financial management, although economics teaches us important business skills. Economics isn’t a way of making lots of money in the stock market*, although economics helps us understand how stock markets and other markets work. Economics, first of all, is a social science that helps to explain the secrets of how people make their living, enterprises earn their profits and societies achieve their goals.

Most of our conscious life directly relates to the economy and economics, one way or another. If we want to get a job we have to enter the economy or in other words, to enter the market for labour. If we want to buy food or clothing we go to the economy or, to put it another way, enter the market for a particular commodity. We all make economic decisions every day of our lives and economics helps us improve the decision-making process*.

When reading newspapers, listening to the news, surfing the Internet, or just speaking to our friends, we come face to face with economic issues that have an effect on us, our friends and family as well as* our society.

These important economic problems do with a large number of questions including:

• Are we using energy efficiently?

• Why do financial crises occur?

• Why does the dollar change in value?

• What are the consequences of a nation’s large budget deficit?

• What are the economic consequences of emigration from Ukraine?

Economics helps answer these and a great many of other questions we can’t help dealing with* in a contemporary society – resources allocation, inflation, unemployment, discrimination, economic growth, pollution and poverty. Thus, studying economics is worth our effort and time as it enables us to improve our own as well as a nation’s welfare.

When it comes to* reasons of studying economics they are as different as we are and the ways it helps us individually change from person to person.

For some of us, economics, first of all, develops an analytical, clear, and accurate way of economic thinking about all kinds of things and can be applied to a variety of different fields. It is a powerful tool which, once learned*, enables us to separate facts from emotions, examine and track cause and effect relationships carefully. Economic reasoning also helps to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of choices we make in order to gain our aims and deal with a wide range of economic matters intelligently.

For others, economics is the study of how to gain a living. Studying economics we can realize where our money comes from and goes in and how to manage money we get. The more we know about economics, the better career and business decisions we are able to take, the higher living standard we enjoy.

Businessmen require knowledge of the “ins and outs”* of business economics to achieve the highest production efficiency, draw the greatest possible profits with the least possible production costs, meet competition in the market and as a result succeed in the business world.

Besides, a basic understanding of economics is necessary if we want to understand national and international affairs and become responsible and knowledgeable citizens in order to affect the decisions of our political leaders by voting, directly or indirectly, on many matters involving economic issues. Knowledge of economics also helps us to be efficient members of the workforce, better informed voters, consumers, savers, and investors in a democracy*. Thus, economic knowledge enables us to run our personal lives, to understand society, and improve the world around us.

But why does everyone – no matter what we are – economists, teachers, doctors, workers, or students – consider economics so important?

• Economics is important for individuals, as economic decisions affect the quality of their life.

• Economics is important for firms, which need to be profitable in their activities.

• Economics is important for governments, as they want to come to good decisions about economic policies.

• Economics is important for society as a whole, since* it needs to use its productive resources in the most efficient way.

All in all (в основному, в цілому), everybody needs to know economics in order to understand, live and exist in our world today. Of course, economic knowledge cannot make us geniuses. But without economics the dice of life are simply loaded against us*.