UNIT ONE
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WHY STUDY ECONOMICS
Essential vocabulary
Achieve v – to complete something successfully or get a good result, especially by working hard – досягати, добиватися. To achieve/to gain/to reach/one’s aim/goal/ purpose – досягти своєї мети.
Affect v – to bring about a change in something – впливати. Syn. to influence, to have an effect on.
Apply v – to bring or put into operation or practical use – використовувати, застосовувати, вживати.
Business n – the activity of making money by producing or buying and selling goods or providing services – бізнес, підприємництво, справа. To succeed in business – досягти успіху в підприємницькій діяльності. Syn. entrepreneurship.
Choice n – the act of choosing or selecting; the right or possibility of choosing – вибір; альтернатива, можливість вибору. To make a choice – робити вибір. Syn. an alternative, a trade-off.
Commodity n – a product that is bought and sold – товар, товар широкого вжитку, предмет споживання; предмет торгівлі. Syn. goods, a product.
Consider v – think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision – думати, вважати; розглядати, обмірковувати, брати до уваги, враховувати. Syn. to think, to suppose, to count.
Consumer n – a person who purchases goods and services for personal use – споживач; клієнт; покупець. Syn. a buyer, a purchaser, a customer.
Decision (about/on) n – a settlement of a question, a making up of one’s mind – рішення. To arrive at/to come/to make/to take a decision/to decide – приймати рішення.
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.
Economics n – a science dealing with production, distribution, consumption, and exchange of commodities – економіка, економічна наука. Business economics – економіка підприємств.
Economy n – an organized system for production, distribution, exchange and consumption of the wealth of society – господарство, економіка.
Effect n – the result or consequence of an action – вплив, наслідок, результат. Syn. a consequence, a result.
Efficiency n – the quality of doing something well – ефективність, продуктив-ність. Production/productive efficiency – ефективність виробництва. Syn. productivity.
Evaluate v – to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of – оцінювати, давати оцінку; визначати якість, важливість; оцінювати, встановлювати вартість; визначати кількість. Syn. to estimate.
Enable v – to make it possible for or to allow a person to do something – давати можливість, право. Syn. to empower.
Enter v – to start to take part in an activity, or become involved in a situation – розпочинати, братися за щось; ставати частиною чогось; вступати, входити. To enter the economy – ставати частиною економіки; to enter the market – виходити на ринок, з’являтися на ринку. Syn. to go to.
Enterprise n – a business unit; a company or firm – (промислове) підприємство; фірма, компанія. Syn. a business, a company, a firm.
Growth n – the process of developing or maturing physically, mentally, or spiritually – ріст; розвиток. Syn. an increase.
Improve v – to make or become better in quality – удосконалювати(ся), поліпшувати(ся), покращувати(ся). Syn. to make better.
Issue n – an important subject of debate, a question that arises for discussion – проблема, питання; предмет суперечки/спірне питання. Economic issue – важлива економічна проблема. Syn. a matter, a problem, a question, a subject.
Living n – means of keeping alive or earning what is needed for life – засоби існування; спосіб життя. To earn/draw/gain/get/make a living – заробляти на прожиття. Syn. livelihood.
Market n – the activity of buying and selling goods and services – ринок. Market for a commodity – ринок товару, market for labour – ринок праці.
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 draw/earn/gain/ get/make profit – отримувати/отримати прибуток. Syn. income, revenue, return.
Way n – a method that is used to do or achieve something – спосіб дії; метод, спосіб. One way or another – так чи інакше. To put it another way – іншими словами. Syn. a method, a means.
Welfare n – health, happiness, prosperity, and well-being in general – благополуччя, добробут, достаток. Syn. wealth, well-being.
TEXT
What is economics and why is it so important for everyone?
First of all, economics 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 is directly concerned with 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 meet 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:
Why do financial crises occur?
What are the consequences of a nation’s large budget deficit?
What are the economic effects 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 – allocation of resources, 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 and clear way of economic thinking about all kinds of things that can be applied to a variety of different fields. For others, economics teaches how to gain a living and helps to realize where our money comes from and goes in and how to manage money we get. It 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.
Businessmen require knowledge 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 business.
Besides, a basic understanding of economics is necessary if we want to understand national and international affairs and become responsible and knowledgeable citizens to affect the decisions of our political leaders by voting, directly or indirectly, on many points 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 manage our personal lives, understand society, and make better 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, everybody needs to know economics in order to understand and live in our world today. Of course, economic knowledge cannot make us geniuses. But without economics the dice of life are simply loaded against us*.