Different Kinds of Money. Различные виды денег

In prisoner-of-war camps, cigarettes served as money. In the 19th century money was mainly gold and silver coins. These are examples of commodity money, ordinary goods with industrial uses (gold) and consumption uses (cigarettes), which also serve as a medium of exchange. To use a commodity money, society must either cut back on other uses of that commodity or devote scarce resources to producing additional quantities of the commodity. But there are less expensive ways for society to produce money.

A token money is a means of payment whose value or purchasing power as money greatly exceeds its cost of production or value in uses other than as money.

A $10 note is worth far more as money than as a 3x6 inch piece of high-quality paper. Similarly, the monetary value of most coins exceeds the amount you would get by melting them down and selling off the metals they contain. By collectively agreeing to use token money, society economizes on the scarce resources required to produce money as a medium of exchange. Since the manufacturing costs are tiny, why doesn't everyone make $10 notes?

The essential condition for the survival of token money is the restriction of the right to supply it. Private production is illegal.

Society enforces the use of token money by making it legal tender. The law says it must be accepted as a means of payment.

In modem economies, token money is supplemented by 10 U money.

An IOU money is a medium of exchange based on the debt of a private firm or individual.

A bank deposit is IOU money because it is a debt of the bank. When you have a bank deposit the bank owes you money. You can write a cheque to yourself or a third party and the bank is obliged to pay whenever the cheque is presented. Bank deposits are a medium of exchange because they arc generally accepted as payment.

VOCABULARY NOTES

the means of payment – средство платежа

medium of exchange – средство обращения

a standard of value – мера стоимости

a unit of account – единица учета

a store of value – средство сбережения (сохранения стоимости)

a standard of deferred payment – средство погашения долга

subsequently – впоследствии a barter economy – бартерная экономика

o swap (a/so swop; syn. to exchange, to barter) – обменивать, менять

to hand over in exchange – передать, вручить в обмен

a double coincidence of wants – двойное совпадение потребностей

a monetary unit – денежная единица

to remind of – напоминать

to be worthless – обесцениваться

an interest-bearing bank account – счет в банке с выплатой процентов

to pay interest – приносить процентный доход

to erode – зд. фактически уменьшать

hard currency – твердая (конвертируемая) валюта

soft currency – неконвертируемая валюта

invariably – неизменно, постоянно

prisoner-of-war camp – лагерь военнопленных

commodity money — деньги – товар

token money – символические деньги (дензнаки)

inch – дюйм (равен 2,5 см)

to melt down – расплавить tiny costs – мизерные затраты

legal tender – законное платежное средство

to supplement – дополнять

IOU money – I owe you – я вам должен; деньги – долговое обязательство a bank deposit – вклад в банке

Assignments

I. Suggest the Russian equivalents

exchange labour services for money; you must hand over in exchange a good or service; a double coincidence of wants; spend a lot of time and effort;

make mutually satisfactory swaps; a barter economy is wasteful; commodity generally accepted in payment for goods; prices arc quoted and accounts are kept; the rapid German inflation; its purchasing power is eroded by inflation;

it's usually but not invariably convenient; cut back on other uses; exceeds its cost of production; by collectively agreeing; the survival of token money; society enforces the use of token money; token money is supplemented by IOU money; interest-bearing bank accounts

II. Replace the parts in italics by synonyms

sometimes payment can be put off till later, the vital feature of money; its purchasing power is worn away; the money is without value, it is not always convenient; time and effort are rare resources; private production of money is against the law

III. Find in the text opposites to the following words and expressions

take away; reject; planned event; in a minor way; increase; is less than;

separately; very large; be under no compulsion to; public

IV. Fill in the gaps with the words and expressions from the text

1. The crucial feature of money is its acceptance as __ or __.

2. People buy and sell goods __ for money.

3. In a barter economy goods are traded directly or __ other goods.

4. People must spend a lot of __ finding others with whom they can make

mutually __.

5. Society considers it convenient to use __ to determine __ of different

goods and services.

6. The unit of account is the unit in which prices are __ and __ are kept.

7. During the rapid German inflation German shopkeepers found it __ to use dollars as __.

8. Money is a store of value because it can be used __.

9. Nobody would accept money as payment for goods supplied today if the money was going __.

10. Since money __ and its real __ power __ by inflation, there are almost certainly better ways to store value.

11. UK citizens can get bank loans __ the amount that __ next year.

12. When you borrow, the amount to be repaid next year is measured in __.

13. __ are ordinary goods with __ (gold) and __ (cigarettes), which also serve as a medium of exchange.

14. To use a commodity money, society must either __ other uses of that commodity or devote __ to producing __ of the commodity.

15. A token money is a means of payment whose __ as money greatly __ its cost of production or value in uses other __.

16. By __, society economizes on the scarce resources required to produce money as __.

17. The essential condition for the survival of token money is __ to supply it.

18. Society enforces the use of token money by making it __.

19. In modem economies, token money __ by __.

20. An IOU money is a medium of exchange based on __ 1.

21. __ is IOU money because it is a debt of the bank.

V. Find in the text English equivalents for the following основная (ключевая) черта (2 варианта); средство платежа; средство обращения; мера стоимости; средство сбережения (средство сохранения стоимости); единица учета; средство погашения долга; в обмен на; может быть впоследствии использовано; обмениваться товарами и услугами;

бартерная экономика; измерять(ся); обесцененный; платить проценты;

покупательная способность; промышленное использование; потребитель­ское использование; деньги – товар; денежные знаки (символические деньги); денежная стоимость; ограничение права; вклад в банке; банков­ская ссуда; законное платежное средство; долговое обязательство

VI. Explain in English

double coincidence of wants; deferred payment; medium of exchange;

purchasing power; monetary value; legal tender; IOU

VII. Answer the questions

1. Why do people accept money?

2. Dwell on the functions of money.

3. Dwell on different kinds of money.

4. What's a barter economy? Why is trading expensive in a barter economy?

5. What currency can be used as the unit of account? Speak on the current situation in Russia.

6. What does IOU stand for?

VIII. Translate into English using all the active possible

1. Существует несколько функций денег. Во-первых и прежде всего, деньги являются средством платежа, или обращения; деньги можно ис­пользовать при покупке и продаже товаров и услуг. Деньги выступают также мерой стоимости. Общество считает удобным использовать денеж­ную единицу в качестве масштаба для соизмерения относительных стои­мостей различных благ и ресурсов.

Деньги служат средством сбережения. Поскольку деньги являются наиболее ликвидным товаром, то есть таким, который можно без про­блем продать (обменять), то они являются очень удобной формой хране­ния богатства. Это, однако, не единственная форма хранения богатства. Во время упадка в экономике, при высокой инфляции и обесценении денег, население, скорее всего, будет хранить богатство в виде недвижи­мости или других дорогостоящих товаров – предметах искусства, драго­ценностях.

2. Деньги, которые, в сущности, являются долговыми обязательствами государства, коммерческих банков и сберегательных учреждений, имеют стоимость благодаря товарам и услугам, которые приобретаются за них на рынке.

THE ROLE OF BANKS (РОЛЬ БАНКОВ)

The following story is going to explain the role of banks. In the past most societies used different objects as money. Some of these were valuable because they were rare and beautiful, others- because they could be eaten or used. Early forms of money like these were used to buy goods. They were also used to pay for marriages, fines and debts. But although everyday objects were extremely practical kinds of cash in many ways, they had some disadvantages, too. For example, it was difficult to measure their value accurately, divide some of them into a wide range of amounts, keep some of them for a long time, use them to make financial plans for the future. For reasons such as these, some societies began to use another kind of money, that is, precious metals.

People used gold, gold bullion, as money. Those were dangerous times, and people wanted a safe place to keep their gold. So they deposited it with goldsmiths, people who worked with gold for jewellery and so on and also had a guarded vault to keep it safe in. And when people wanted some of their gold to pay for things with, they went and fetched it from the goldsmith.

Two developments turned these goldsmiths into bankers. The first was that people found it a lot easier to give the seller a letter than it was to fetch some gold and then physically hand it over to him. This letter transferred some of the gold they had at the goldsmith's to the seller. This letter we would nowadays call a cheque. And, of course, once these letters or cheques, became acceptable as a way of paying for goods, people felt that the gold they had deposited with the goldsmith, was just as good as gold in their own pockets. And as letters or cheques, were easier to carry around than gold, and a lot less dangerous, people started to say that their money holdings were what they had with them plus their deposits. So a system of deposits was started. The second development was that goldsmiths realized they had a great deal of unused gold lying in their vaults doing nothing. This development was actually of greater importance than the first.

Now let's turn to the first bank loan ever and see what happened. A firm asked a goldsmith for a loan. The goldsmith realized that some of the gold in his vault could be lent to the firm, and of course he asked the firm to pay it back later with a little interest. Of course, at that moment the goldsmith was short of gold, it wasn't actually his gold, but he reckoned it was unlikely that everyone who had deposited gold with him would want it back at the same time, at any rate – not before the firm had repaid him his gold with a little interest. He thought it safe enough.

To understand what actually happened in. this simple transaction let's consider the following table.