Английский язык для экономистов - Малюга Е.Н.
ISBN 5-469-00341-8
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Longer-dated US government bonds have rallied sharply this week, with investors convinced that inflation will remain subdued, having less of an impact on the value of long-term assets.
The Labour Department reported that the 12-month rise in its core consumer price index fell to 1.5 per cent in April, its slowest 12-month rate of increase since January 1966. Strategists said the subsequent fall in bond yields could, however, be positive for the economy. uThis is what the Federal Reserve wants," said Dominic Konstam, head of interest rates products research at Credit Suisse First Boston.
Falling yields mean falling borrowing costs, which make it easier for businesses to borrow and homeowners to refinance mortgages and get extra cash — factors that have helped keep the economy afloat. But the sharp slowdown in inflation has inflamed talk of Japanese-style deflation. Unit 10. Monetary and Fiscal Policy
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Japan's deflation figures were released along with gross domestic product figures showing that growth in the first quarter fell to almost zero, leading some economists to conclude that the economy was on the brink of yet another recession. Nominal growth fell 0.6 per cent in the March quarter, or minus 2.5 per cent on an annualized basis.
Paul Sheard, economist at Lehman Brothers, said: "If you look at the chart it looks horrible. It looks as though deflation is going through the floor." However, the headline figure exaggerated the picture, because the GDP deflator in the first quarter of 2002, when Japan began pulling out of recession, was positive, he noted. "It's something of a statistical fluke, though deflation is deflation and it is not a good sign." Most economists in the US have dismissed deflationary risks as marginal. But the Fed said recently that odds of an "unwelcome substantial" slowdown in inflation were now stronger than that of a rebound. "We continue to believe that inflationary pressures are building," said Brian Wesbury1 an economist with Chicago-based, bond-trading firm Griffith Kubik, Stepehens and Thomson, but "it is getting harder and harder to argue against the deflation story."
Concerns have also grown about a global-wide deflation which the US could import, as western Europe flirts with recession and Japan looks more likely to enter a deflationary spiral.
K.2. In pairs discuss the following.
1. Make a list of economic indicators that allow predicting future economic conditions.
2. What monetary instruments are used to control the economy?
3. What dangers does deflation pose for the economy?
4. How do you understand the connection between recession and deflation?
5. What is the main difference between the situations in Japan and the USA?
K.3. Issue a monetary policy directive that recommends how you would stabilize the economy. After each group has presented its monetary directive discuss the benefits of each policy. Unit 11 Globalization
A. Preliminary discussion
1. What is globalization?
2. When did globalization gain its popularity?
3. Whv do you think globalization excite so much disputes and controversy nowadays?
B, Pre-reading exercises
B.l. Skim the text and give its key idea.
B.2. Scan the text for the following information.
1. Why does the author think that a comprehensive and radical alternative to globalization must be found?
2. According to the author in what way does localization differ from globalization?
3. What main flows of the concept of'comparative capital' does the author give in the article?
C Reading
C.l. Read the text and answer the questions.
1. What effects does globalization have on the economic development?
2. How does the author define 'localization'?
3. Why do you think the author described theory of comparative advantage as an 'ivory tower'?
4. blow should GATT and WTO be revised to be relevant to today's reality? Unit 11. Globalization
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There Is an Alternative to Globalization: It's Localization — a Global Manifesto
Colin Mines — Associate of the Inteinational Fomm on Globalization. The arguments and alternative policies proposed in this paper are to be found in his new book "Localization — A Global Manifesto."
Localization — an Idea Whose Time Has Come
Globalization and free trade are under unprecedented attack as its adverse effects on the majority and the environment becomes ever clearer. Now is the time for a comprehensive and radical alternative to enter the public arena. This must be based on a new direction for the global economic system. Only when a new policy is worked out will inequality be improved. It must reduce, improve the basic provision of needs, and adequately protect the environment.
This process is "Localization" — a set of interrelated and self-reinforcing policies that actively discriminate in favour of the local. It provides a political and economic framework for people, community groups and businesses to re-diversify their own local economies. Not only does it have the potential to increase community cohesion, reduce poverty and inequality, but also it can improve livelihoods, social provision and environmental protection and provide the all-important sense of security.
