1. Study the following words and find out their meanings.

P.59 free enterprise system, to benefit society, to undergo substantial change, affluent

P.60 margin of superiority, to diminish, a major concern

P.61 competitiveness, to impose restrictions

P.62 to be on the rise, overall economic productivity, budget deficit, to hamper economic growth, to cripple the economy

P.63 a market shrinks/expands, mortgage

P.64 a merger, an entrepreneur

P. 65 a labor union, an overtime pay, a lay-off, a redundancy payment

2. Answer the questions.

1. What is the background of free enterprise in America?

2. What is the role of government in the US economy?

3. How can we characterize American industrial and technological production and its competition with foreign markets?

4. What changes is the US economy undergoing?

5. How does budget deficit hamper economic growth?

6. What problems do agriculture and small farming face?

7. What is the role of corporations and entrepreneurs in the US economy?

8. What is the difference between European and American labor unions and what problems do the latter face?

3. Role play (see Part b, pp. 66-76).

Role 1. You are a governmental official. You are worried about the current economic crisis, declining growth rates, declining competitiveness of US goods abroad and budget deficit (pp. 60-62). You have decided to invite the representatives of different economic spheres to define the range of problems that modern economy faces and where the major investments should go.

Role 2. You are Peter Drucker (see p. 66). You demand more money to support free enterprise system and entrepreneurs of the new generation. You are convinced that the future belongs to modern high-tech corporations, and their development must become a major concern of the state.

Role 3. You are Arno Penzias, vice-president in charge of research at Bell Labs (see pp. 68-69). You share the position of P. Drucker concerning the increasing role of hi-tech industries. You want to stress that the development of such industries depends heavily on innovative research, and more money, both state and private, must be invested in innovations.

Role 4. You are Fred Turner, McDonald’s Corporation Chairman (see pp.70-72). You think that the key to success is first of all providing goods of highest quality. You want to disagree with the wide-spread opinion that McDonald’s food is unhealthy, showing on the example of French-fries that quality is a major concern of Mc Donald’s manufacturers. You think that more money must be invested into food industry as the closest to the consumer.

Role 5. You are Danny Collum, an American farmer (see pp. 73-74). You think that instead of pouring money into industrial development, the government must pay more attention to the critical situation in agriculture. You believe that the crisis of the small farm can ruin the US economy and want to draw the attention of the public to the problems in farming.

Role 6. You are Robert W. Haseltine, economist and environmentalist (see pp. 75-76). You are concerned with the effects of industrial development on ecology. You believe that instead of income and development businesses must be pre-occupied with their ecological policies. You think that the future is in grave danger and demand that more funds should be invested in anti-pollution developments.

4. Discussion. Industrial development vs. agriculture. See ex. 7 p. 80.