Glimpses of history of money

At different periods of time and in different parts of the world many different commodities have served as money. These commodities were: cattle, sheep, furs, leather, fish, tobacco, tea, salt, shells etc. The experts underline that to serve effectively as money a commodity should be fairly durable, easily divisible and portable. None of the above-mentioned commodities possessed all these qualities and in time they were superseded by precious metals.

First they were superseded by silver and later by gold. When a payment was made the metal was first weighed out. The next stage was the cutting of the metal into pieces of definite weight and so coins came into use.

Paper money first came into use in the form of receipts given by goldsmiths in exchange for deposits of silver and gold coins. After goldsmiths became bankers their receipts became banknotes. That’s how the first banknotes came into existence.

At first coins were worth their face value as metal. But later token coins of limited value as legal tender were issued. Now smaller denomination coins are made from bronze and are often referred to as coppers. Bigger denomination coins are made from cupronickel and are usually called silver.

Lesson 9. EXERCISES

Have a look at the text “THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY” and…

• Find the answers:

1. What are fuller names for the EEC?
2. When and by what countries was the EEC established?
3. Is Great Britain the member state in the EEC?
4. How many people live in the EEC?
5. What is the EEC share in the world’s trade?
6. What privileges do EEC countries have in their trade?
7. What privileges do EEC citizens have, coming to those countries?
8. What institutions does EEC have?
9. Where are the EEC headquarters?
10. Where does the money come from to run the EEC?
11. What does the text say about the history of the European common currency?

• Agree or disagree:

1. It is a good privilege when imports to any country are free of duty.
2. It is a very positive factor when people can freely enter any other country.
3. It would be a very good thing if our country joined the European Union.

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

The European Economic Community, or the Common Market, or the EEC was established in 1957. The original six member countries of the Community were France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Then a few other countries joined the Community. Britain, together with the Irish Republic and Denmark, joined the EEC on 1^st January 1973.

Now the community forms an enormous trading area of almost 360 million people and accounts for two fifths of the world’s trade.

The membership allows imports to enter member countries either free of duty or at lower customs duties.

All member countries contribute to a common budget for certain purposes, based on relative total output of goods and services, or Gross National Product.

Under the Community regulations, people of member countries may freely enter another member state to travel or to work there.

The Community has the following institutions: the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Court of Justice.

The headquarters of the European Economic Community are located in Brussels, Belgium.

Before 1999 the Common Market member states had the common currency called ECU (European Common Unit). In 1999 the Common Market introduced a new currency – Euro – used only in bank operations first. Since 2002 Euro is used as a legal tender in 12 EU countries.

Conversation practice.

1. Translate the text “The Euro”, find the wrong sentences, correct them:

1. On January 1, 2002, the euro became legal tender.
2. All the EU member countries have introduced the euro.
3. The euro has not brought any changes for national economies.
4. It became easier to travel through the European countries.
5. Introducing a new currency called for not any problems.
6. There are Euro-banknotes with national motives.

Check your Grammar!

2. Say which construction (the Complex Object or the Complex Subject) is used in each of these sentences:

1. All product prices are expected to be raised due to the new tax.
2. Lead and zinc are known to be found in the same ore.
3. Economists consider an alternative to finding a job to be provided by unemployment benefits.
4. They believe the firm to have leased all its capital equipment.
5. All the capital equipment of the firm is believed to have been leased.
6. Advertising is assumed to have been made the most important tool of selling commodities.
7. Most decisions in Soviet block countries are known to have been made centrally by the government.
8. Economic conditions are assumed to be changing all the time.
9. The population of Russia has been found to be decreasing at a rapid rate.
10. The GDP was reported to be constantly falling in Russia.
11. In some countries, such as post-communist Eastern Europe, foreign currency is known to be used alongside domestic currency.
12. Money is known to be accepted as a means of payment.
13. New methods of economic analysis appear to be required in the near future.
14. An average worker in the United Kingdom is known to be paid more than the one in India.

3. Translate the following sentences, pay attention to the differences in translation of ing-forms:

1. Serving as a means of exchange, money is essential in economy.
2. The planning of the firm performance is one of the essential tasks of the manager.
3. The planning of production helps to avoid income losses.
4. Having introduced new technology, the enterprise increased output.
5. Increasing labour productivity reduced the production cost.
6. Labour productivity may be increased by introducing new machinery.
7. The using of the new method produced good results.
8. The economist calculated the company’s income, using the new computer programme.
9. Investing money in new technologies usually increases the production efficiency.
10. They have a lot of experience in predicting consumer requirements.
11. The output can be increased by raising labour productivity.
12. The company manager spoke about the possibility of decreasing the production cost.
13. The discussing of this complex project will take much time.

GDP Up, Inflation under Control Russia’s 2003 GDP growth will be over 6.5%, and could even hit seven per cent, the Prime Minister told the December 18 Cabinet meeting. “GDP rose 6.8% in the January-November period,” he added. “This is a very good trend.” He also gave assurances that this year’s inflation rate would not average more than 12%. “The first two weeks of December saw only 0.5% inflation,” he said. “This gives us ground to affirm that our 12% ceiling will not be exceeded. This is the first time we’ve managed to keep the rate at this level.” The Prime Minister said the preliminary results of the country’s economic development in 2003 show that “the economy has been developing at a good pace,” and that the year’s overall results would be summed up at the next week’s Cabinet session. Next week’s session will also consider – and most likely adopt – the government’s plan of action and its legislative schedule for 2004. The Prime Minister said the government would hopefully succeed in further lowering the inflation rate, which should keep under 10%.