4- Economics! What Is It? [Part II]
4- Economics! What Is It? [Part II]
In the 19th century there was a reaction to the “laissez-faire” thinking of the 19th century due to the writings of Thomas Malthus. He felt that population would always advance faster than the science and technology needed to support such population growth.
David Ricardo later stated that wages tend to settle at a poor subsistence level for most workers. John Stuart Mill provided the backdrop for socialism with his theories that supported: farm cooperatives, labor unions, and less competition.
These theories were brought to a high point by Karl Marx who attacked the capitalistic “laissez-faire” theories of competition and instead favored socialisms, marked more government control and state rather than private ownership of property.
Another important idea at this time was the change in how items are valued. While formerly an item's value stayed the same according to what the item was, now the worth of an item is determined by how many people wanted the item and how great the supply of the item is. This was the beginning of the laws of supply and demand.
In the first half of the 20th century John Maynard Keynes wrote about business cycles (when the economy is doing well and when it is in a slump) his theories led to governments seeking to put more controls on the economy to prevent wide swings.
After World War II, emphasis was placed on the on the analysis of economic growth and development using more sophisticated technological tools. In recent years, economic theory has been broadly separated into two major fields: macroeconomics, which studies entire economic systems, and microeconomics, which observes the workings of the market on an individual or group within an economic system.
In the later 20th century such ideas as supply side economics which states that a healthy economy is very necessary for the health of the nation and Milton Friedman's ideas that the money supply is the most important influence on the economy where favored.
In the 21stcentury the rapid changes and growth in technology have spawned the term "information age" in which knowledge and information have become important commodities.
Quiz 1 (Basic Business English)
• Q1 The water in the refrigerator should be ........
(a) warm (b) hot (c) cold (d) frozen
• Q2 ....... I will come home early.
(a) Today at night (b) This night (c) Tonight (d) The night
• Q3 Do you ....... the bus to work?
(a) take (b) drive (c) bring (d) walk
• Q4 Have you .......?
(a) turned skinny (b) lost weight (c) no more fat (d) weighted less
• Q5 She is a member ....... the gym.
(a) for (b) from (c) by (d) of
• Q6 He ....... executive.
(a) is (b) is an (c) is a (d) an
• Q7 My friend likes ....... work on extra projects.
(a) to (b) of (c) from (d) the
• Q8 Please ....... a message on the answering machine.
(a) make (b) do (c) leave (d) report
• Q9 Yesterday they ....... very well in their class.
(a) do (b) does (c) will do (d) did
• Q10 At work we get a 30 minute lunch ........
(a) rest (b) break (c) vacation (d) holiday
Quiz 2 (Business Expressions 1)
• Q1 I heard of a new company today with which we should co-operate and ....... business with.
(a) make (b) create (c) have (d) do
• Q2 Shortly after he was dismissed from the firm he decided to ....... himself up in his own business.
(a) put (b) set (c) place (d) hold
• Q3 They went ....... business shortly after their children had left home and got married.
(a) out (b) in (c) into (d) on
• Q4 As soon as they heard what had happened, they ....... it their business to find out the truth.
(a) made (b) tried (c) managed (d) called
• Q5 I would ask you kindly not to interfere with what I'm doing as in all honesty it's ....... of your business.
(a) no (b) nothing (c) none (d) nor
• Q6 Despite all the alterations that are taking place in the department store, the management wanted to explain it was business as ........
(a) common (b) practical (c) frequent (d) usual
• Q7 She knew that there was some kind of ....... business going on because strange things were happening.
(a) weird (b) unusual (c) funny (d) stupid
• Q8 We really can't delay any more with our plans and must ....... down to business as soon as possible.
(a) set (b) get (c) cut (d) find
• Q9 When the bomb went off, most of the injured were just ordinary people going ....... their business.
(a) about (b) along (c) across (d) through
• Q10 Although they had high hopes that they would be successful, they ....... out of business within six months.
(a) turned (b) came (c) went (d) fell
Answers:A1 (c) cold
A2 (c) Tonight
A3 (a) take
A4 (b) lost weight
A5 (d) of
A6 (b) is an
A7 (a) to
A8 (c) leave
A9 (d) did
A10 (b) break
A1 (d) do
A2 (b) set
A3 (c) into
A4 (a) made
A5 (c) none
A6 (d) usual
A7 (c) funny
A8 (b) get
A9 (a) about
A10 (c) went