Напишите аннотацию данного текста.

 

Text C.

THE JOYS OF LIVING IN SYNE.

 

For the first time since 1985, according to the OECD,  all of its 29 member countries will enjoy growth. Better still, developing countries and the transition economies of Russia and Eastern Europe are also expected to join in the fun. If (a big if) such forecasts prove correct, the next few years could see the most broadly-based period of economic growth since much earlier this century.

Even the fiercest sceptics will be cheered by the news that the average world inflation rate is tipped to fall to its lowest level for almost 30 years. Even Bra­zil, which is as famous for its hyperinflation as its coffee and carnivals, had a single-digit annual inflation rate in December for the first time since the 1950s.

The good news is almost universal. Growth is becom­ing more evenly spread across the rich industrial nations, with continental Europe and Japan starting to perk up at last. The OECD expects Europe’s GDP to grow by around 2,5%. After a painfully long recession, Japan’s GDP’s is expected to increase by 2.8%. The American economy, which has led the pack over the past five years, is fore­cast to cruise along at around 2%. Many other economists reckon that America will grow a bit faster than this. All told, the rich industrial economies, which account for about half of the world’s total output, look set to grow around 2,5% this year.

But that performance will be overshad­owed by that in the emerging economics, where economic reforms and sounder monetary and fiscal policies arc bearing fruit. Latin America, where output slumped sharply in the wake of the  Mexican debacle, is enjoying a strong bounce back. Over the past 12 months, Mexico’s indus­trial production has jumped by 16%, Argentina’s by 13%. The IMF is forecasting average GDP growth of 4% for Latin America.

The IMF also brushes aside fears that the Asian economic miracle is starting to fade. Growth slowed sharply in some Asian economies as exports stumbled. But most economists reckon this mainly reflected a cyclical downturn. The cycle is turning back up, according to the IMF. Optimistically, it has pencilled in growth of 7,5% in Asian developing countries.

Most dramatic of all is the expected turnaround in Russia and Eastern Europe. The region could see its first proper growth for a dicade. After falling by more than 50% since the late 1980s, Russia’s output is tipped by both the OECD and the IMF to start expanding again contributing to a region-wide growth rate of 4%.

Totting it all up, world GDP could grow by more than 4%, its fastest rate for a decade. Peering deeper into its crystal ball, the IMF forecasts global growth for at 4,4% - well above the aveerage of 3,2% over the past 20 years.

David Hale, the chief economist at Zurich Kemper Investments, reckons that such a broad upturn is unprecedented in modern times. Not since before the first world war have virtually all rich and poor countries simultaneously enjoyed strong sustained growth. It all sounds like excellent news. Add in the fact that growth is almost certainly being understated by an increasing margin because a growing chunk of output in services is tricky to measure, and it is possible that the world could be on the brink of one of its strongest booms ever.

One might conclude from this cheery news that the exuberant financial markets are not quite so irrational after all. But the picture is not cloudless. The fact that the world’s big, rich econommies have been unusually out of kilter in recent years may go a long way to explain why inflation has stayed low. America’s strength has been offset by weaker demand elsewhere, which has held down the prices of raw materials, helping to tame inflation. When growth in different countries is synchronised, inflationary pressures build as strong demand in one country spills over into others. Policymakers then need to act more swiftly to raise interest rates.

The question now is thether more synchronised growth will make it harder to keep inflation under control. The popular thesis that “inflation is dead” - thanks to new technology and increased global competition - is about to face its first real test.

 

VOCABULARY

 

1. sync = syncronization	синхронизация, выравнивание (уровней развития)
2. OECD = Organization of Economic Cooperation Development	Организация экономического сотрудничества и развития
3. transition economies	страны с переходной экономикой
4. single digit inflation rate	темпы инфляции ниже десяти процентов (выраженные однозначным числом)
5. ... being understated by an increasing margin ...	занижаются со все большей степенью допустимой погрешности

 

Напишите аннотацию данного текста .

 

UNIT IV         Europe: Economic And Monetary Union.

Text A.

THE «EURO».

1. Дайте ответы на следующие 1. What exactly is the EU for now ?

вопросы без предварительного    2. What are the benefits of the single

чтения текста :                                       market and the single currency ?

                                                          3. Will full economic and monetary

                                                              union spell the end of a country’s

                                                      right to determine its own economic

                                                      policy ?

2. Дайте ответы на следующие   1. When will people actually have

вопросы после беглого просмотра     Euro notes and coins in their

текста :                                                 pockets ?

                                                            2. What are the necessary economic

                                                        conditions for taking part in the

                                                                  single currency ?

                                                   3. What are the advantages of a single

                                                       currency ?

3. Прочитайте следующий текст и найдите ключевые слова и предложения в каждом абзаце:

THE “EURO”

 

The EU means many things to many people. For some it has been at the core of efforts to help maintain peace over the past 50 years in a continent which in the past has been riven by rivalry and suspicion. Others, however, talk of its political impotency.

For many the EU is primarily about the single market and the opportunities and benefits this presents to busineses, students, pensioners and holidaymakers.

A number of people feel that it is becoming increasingly difficult to see the wood through the trees. They look back and ask whether the EU’s current responsibilities really are fulfilling the visions of its founders, or whether those visions have themselves become lost in the ambiguities of post cold-war Europe? A fair question would be: What exactly is the EU for now?

Likewise you may want to know how the EU benefits people directly, in practical terms.

Ultimately, the EU is more than just the sum of its parts. Its Member States created it to help solve problems that cannot now be effectively tackled by countries acting alone. The point is that the EU offers opportunities, not restrictions.

The decision to adopt the single currency forms an integral part of the Treaty on European Union signed by the Member States in Maastricht in February 1992. Protocols attached to the Treaty will allow two countries, the United Kindom and Denmark, to stay out of the single currency when the time comes, should they prefer.

At the European Council meeting in Madrid on the 15 and 16 December 1995 the Heads of State or Government of the Fifteen decided to call the single currency the “Euro” and adopted a definitive scenario for introducing it. The changeover to the Euro will therefore begin on 1 January 1999 for those countries which meet the necessary conditions laid down in the Maastricht Treaty.

If they are to join the Euro, the Member States must bring their economies closer together (this is known as achieving “convergence”). Four convergence criteria have been established for that purpose:

*  Member States must avoid excessive government deficits. Their perfomance is measured against two reference ratios: 3% of GDP for the annual deficit and 60% of GDP for the stock of government debt;

*  inflation should not exceed by more than 1,5 percentage points that of the three best performing member States in terms of price stability in the previus year;

*  the country’s currency must have remained within the normal fluctuation margins of the European Monetary System (EMS) for at least two years;

*  long-term interest rates should not exceed by more than 2 percentage points the average of the three Member States with the lowest rates in the Union.

    Member States have made real progress towards economic convergence, but government deficits are still running to high. Deficit reduction is the only possible option if we are to lay the foundations for healthy economic growth, which is the necessary precondition for creating jobs and fighting uneployment in Europe.

    Economists agree that, given the globalisation of the economy, allowing government deficits to grow is no longer a valid way of boosting economic activity.

    Conversely, unemprloyment worsens when countries go more deeply into the red. The 15 Member States of the Union have clearly understood this lesson: the European employment strategy agreed at the Madrid European Council ranks the reduction of excessive deficits as a top priority.

    The situation as regards the other convergence criteria has improved considerably in recent years, expecially for inflation, which has hit record lows and for long-term interest rates.

 Will full economic and monetary union spell the end of a country’s right to determine its own economic policies? Yes and no. Yes, because in a very real sense national governments have seen fit to hand over some control of their own economies in order that other benefits may be accrued. This is the point. The benefits of full EMU to the consumer and to businesses are evident; the benefits to national governments and their central banks or current equivalents are equally wide-ranging.

A move to a common currency will allow Member States to have greater influence over each others’ economic policies, and therefore over each others’ interest rate changes. Smaller countries will have a far greater say over the economies of larger countries in this way, as each country will have a single vote on decisions on monetary policy taken by the European Central Bank.

A single currency will also be able to withstand, far more confidently the pressures brought to bear on separate national currencies by speculators. Sudden devaluations would become a thing of the past. This would also discourage uncertainty about interest rates. Furthermore, by resisting membership of the single currency, a national government would be effectively denying itself the right to have a say in how the European Central Bank is run, and thus, in some ways , in how the Community itself progresses.

The advantages of a single currency are numerous. For one, a single currency means that travellers across the Community no longer have to change money, while losing money on every transcation, as is currently the case. Exchange margins and commission fees paid to banks will simply disappear. Small businesses in particular will benefit as payments and tranfers between Member States end up being quicker and more reliable, as well as cheaper.

For business and consumers, a single currency will also take away the uncertainty about the price for which goods are sold. As has been seen sudden exchange rate movements can wipe out profit margins in a matter of hours.

Furthermore, if goods and services are priced in one and the same currency the competitive effect of the single market will be strentthened considerably, much to the Community’s benefit as a whole. In this way, the single currency will also help stimulate growth and employment.

A single currency will be able to withstand, far more confidently, the pressures which have been put very visibly on separate national currencies by speculators.This would also discourage uncertainty about interest rates.

The Madrid European Council called for an examination of the relationship between the Member States adopting the Euro from the outset (the ‘ins’) and those joining the Euro area at a later stage (the ‘pre-ins’). There was full consensus on the need for monetary stability in the interests of smooth functioning of the single market. Ministers also unanimously approved the Commission’s prooposals for strengthening multilateral surveillance.

However, a very large majority of Member States agreed that such strengthening was not sufficient in itself to ensure monetary stability, since the markets sometimes acted on factors other than the economic fundamentals. An exchange-rate mechanism was therefore necessary; no Member States opposed the creation of such a mechanism.  

 

VOCABULARY

 

1. single market	единый рынок
2. single currency	единая валюта
3. changeover to the «Euro»	переход к «Евро»
4. to meet the necessary conditions	отвечать соответствующим требованиям
5. convergence	конвергенция, сближение (уровней экономи-ческого развития)
6. criteria (pl)	критерии
7. reference ratio	эталонное соотношение (показатель, норма и т.д.)
8. best performing Member States	Страны-члены с наилучшими показателями
9. in terms of price stability	с точки зрения стабильности цен (в отношении ...)
10. flactuation margins	пределы колебаний
11. the European Monetary System (EMS)	Европейская валютная система
12. to go into (to be in) the red	иметь дефицит, быть должником
13. current equivalents	зд. аналогичные учреждения
14. exchange margins	зд. различия в уровнях обменных курсов
15. commission fee(s)	комиссионный сбор (ы)
16. transfer	денежный перевод
17. multilateral surveillance	инспекция (наблюдение) на многосторонней основе
18. economic fundamentals	основные экономические показатели

4. Переведите отрывок :

    «Will full economic and monetary union spell the end of a counter’s right to determine its own economic policies ?»