What Is Economics and Who Cares?

 

 

Unit 2

Ex 1. Fill in the gaps with the following words

 

, , , , , , , , , , ,

AN INEXACT SCIENCE

Economics is the study, description, and analysis of the ways in which a society produces and 1 distributes, In economics, the term goods and services refers to everything that is produced in the economy—all products and services, including 2 government  

“services,” such as national defense and the 3 Prison  system.

Economics is one of the social (as opposed to natural or physical) sciences, as are 4 psychology  and anthropology. Social sciences examine and explain human 5 interaction  Because of this, the findings and knowledge produced by a 6 social science  generally cannot be as exact or predictable as those of a physical science, such as physics or chemistry.

For instance, if you put water in a saucepan on a stove, you know with 7 certainty

that it will boil when it reaches 212° Fahrenheit. But if you are the governor of a state and you raise the state 8 sales tax,  you cannot be certain about the effect it will have. And you won’t be able to answer any of the following basic questions: How much money will the tax raise? In order to avoid the tax, will people take more of their business across the 9 state line ? Will they shop more often on the Internet, where there is no sales tax (yet)? Will companies in the state experience lower sales and generate lower corporate 10 income taxes  as a result?

Economics 11 deals with these kinds of questions, but it seldom comes up with totally 12 precise  explanations or correct 13 predictions Why? Because human 14 behavior in the economic realm is as 15 complex  and mysterious as it is in any other sphere of life.

 

The good news, however, is that economics can tell us the likelyresults of a sales tax. In addition, as a scientific discipline, economics providesextremely useful analytical tools and frameworksfor understanding human behavior in the areas of getting and spending money, which (let's face it) occupies the majorityof most people's waking hours.

 

 

Economics deals with fundamental, often life-or-death issues. That is why economics is important. Its challengelies in its mysteries: We don't know when the next expansion or recessionwill come. We don't know if a federal tax cut will help the economy grow. We don't know which new technologies should be encouragedand which ones won't pan out (не преуспеют). And, tragically, we don't know how to overcome poverty, hunger, crime, and other evils rooted in economic reality. But economics is the branch of the social sciences most concerned with these matters, and it is the one that's well equippedto help us deal with them.

Economics provides a framework for understanding government policies, business developments, and consumer behavior here and abroad. It provides a rich context for making decisionsin your business, professional, and financial life. The economy is to business as the ocean is to fish. It is the environment in which business operates. The more you know about this environment, the better you will function as a manager, analyst, and decisionmaker.

 

Ex.2 Match the parts of the sentences.

ECONOMICS

1. c

2. e

3. a

4. b

5. d

 

 

 

Ex.3Read and the part of the interview and fill in the words.