1. Verbs of change

Profits soared 18.5%.

Profits are falling.

Sales plummeted in January.

2. Prepositions

Profits rose 11% to $2.7 billion.

Profits have done up from 3 million to 4 million euros.

Our business grew by 10% last year.

There’s been a decrease in annual sales of 1 million euros.

Last years profits stood at 2.5 million pounds.

3. Different verb forms

The figures show a positive trend. (Present Simple)

We’re watching the trends carefully. (Present Continuous)

Last year we made a loss. (Past Simple)

In recent months our profits have risen dramatically. (Present Perfect)

If sales drop further, we’ll be in serious financial difficulty. (First Conditional)

Ex. 1. What kind of movement do the verbs below describe? Match them to the symbols. Then compare your answers with a partner. (Use some symbols more than once)

decline	gain	drop	increase	rocket	plummet
double	fall	halve	level off	triple	recover
decrease	fluctuate	improve	peak	rise	zoom

Which of the above verbs also have noun forms? What are they?

For example: to increase – an increase.

Ex. 2. Complete these sentences with appropriate prepositions.

1. Sales have increased ... €5m … €7m.

2. Sales have increased … €2m.

3. There has been an increase … €2m in our sales.

4. Sales now stand … €7 million.

5. Sales reached a peak … €7 million in July.

6. Sales reached a low point … €1 million in April.

B. Discuss the following issues:

1. What is the difference between fiscal and monetary policies?

2. How will you comment on Adam Smith’s words that “the only good budget is a balanced budget”?

3. What are the tools of fiscal policy?

4. Who carries out fiscal policy?

5. What are the effects of expansionary fiscal policy in the economy?

6. Can fiscal policy produce inflation?

7. What recent examples of fiscal policy in the world do you know?

8. Did they bring positive results for the economy?

Vocabulary

benefit n – льгота, привилегия

unemployment ~ – пособие по безработице

budget n – бюджет, смета

balanced ~ – сбалансированный бюджет (бюджет, в котором существует равновесие между доходами и расходами)

~ deficit/shortage – бюджетный дефицит

~ surplus – бюджетный профицит (превышение доходов бюджета над расходами)

effective demand – платежеспособный спрос

eliminate v – устранять, исключать, уничтожать, ликвидировать

fiscal policy – налогово-бюджетная/фискальная политика

contractionary ~ or tight/restrictive ~ – сдерживающая/жесткая фискальная политика

discretionary ~ – дискреционная фискальная политика

expansionary ~ or easy/free/loose ~ – стимулирующая/свободная фискальная политика

non-discretionary ~ – недискреционная фискальная политика

multiplier n – мультипликатор (означает численный коэффициент, показывающий, во сколько раз возрастает доход при данном расчете инвестиций)

~ effect – умноженное воздействие на доход

spending ~ – мультипликатор расходов

propensity n – склонность

~ to consume – склонность к потреблению

~ to save – склонность к сбережению

soar v – стремительно повышаться

tax n – налог

~ bracket – ступень налоговой шкалы

~ rate – ставка налога

~ revenue – доход от налогов, налоговые поступления

~ receipts – денежные поступления от налогов

income ~ – подоходный налог

progressive income ~ – прогрессивный подоходный налог

taxation n – обложение налогами, налогообложение

~ relief – налоговое послабление

velocity n – скорость обращения денег

welfare n – благосостояние, благополучие, достаток

~ system – система социального обеспечения

GLOSSARY

• Automatic stabilizers are federal expenditures and tax revenues that automatically change levels in order to stabilize an economic expansion or contraction; sometimes referred to as non-discretionary fiscal policy.

• Balanced budget is a budget when revenues and expenditures are equal during a given period.

• Budget deficit is a budget in which government expenditures exceed government revenues in a given time period.

• Budget surplus is a budget in which government revenues exceed government expenditures in a given time period.

• Discretionary fiscal policy is the deliberate use of changes in government spending or taxes to alter aggregate demand and stabilize the economy.

• Fiscal policy is the use of government spending and taxes to influence the nation’s output, employment, and price level.

• Government debt (sometimes called public debt) consists of the total or accumulated borrowings by the government; it is the total dollar value of government bonds owned by the public (households, banks, businesses, foreigners, and other non-federal entities).

• Monetarism is the simpler view that changes in monetary policy directly change aggregate demand and thereby prices, real GDP, and employment. Thus, monetarists focus on the money supply, rather than on the rate of interest.

• Non-discretionary fiscal policy refers to the appropriate changes in the levels of government expenditures and taxes that occur automatically. This is called built-in stabilizers or automatic stabilizers.

• Tax multiplier is the change in aggregate demand (total spending) resulting from an initial change in taxes.