Английский язык. Практический курс для решения бизнес-задач
Шрифт:
Democracy has increased dramatically from almost no nation with universal suffrage in 1900 to 62.5% of all nations in 2000.
Between 1950 and 1999, global literacy increased from 52% to 81%.
There are similar trends for electricity, cars, radios, and phones per capita.
Measurement of Globalization
To what extent a nation-state or culture is globalized in a particular year has until most recently been measured employing simple proxies like flows of trade, migration, or FDI. A more sophisticated approach to measuring globalization is the recent index calculated by the Swiss think tank KOF. The index measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic, social, and political. In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, an overall index of globalization and sub-indices referring to actual economic flows, economic restrictions, data on personal contact, data on information flows, and data on cultural proximity is calculated. According to the index, the world’s most globalized country is the USA, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. The least globalized countries according to the KOF-index are Burundi, Belize, and Sierra Leone.
Source: Wikepidia
Essential Vocabulary
1. medium n –
2. trade liberalization – либерализация торговли
3. free trade – свободная торговля
4. «global village» – «глобальная деревня»
5. protectionism n – протекционизм
protectionist a – протекционистский
6. refugee n – беженец
7. сurrency market – валютный рынок
8. сommodity market – товарный рынок
9. сross-border transaction – международная операция
10. diffusion n – распространение
diffuse v – распространять
11. multinational company (MNC) – многонациональная компания (МНК)
12. tailor v – зд. подгонять под конкретные нужды
13. circumvention n – обман, хитрость, обход
circumvent v – обмануть, обойти, перехитрить, расстроить (планы)
14. protective tariff – протекционистский тариф
15. specie n – золотые и серебряные монеты или слитки
16. auspices n.,pl – эгида, покровительство
17. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) – Генеральное соглашение о тарифах и торговле (ГАТТ)
18. Uruguay Round – Уругвайский раунд
19. World Trade Organization (WTO) – Всемирная торговая организация
20. Maastricht Treaty – Маастрихтский договор
21. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – Североамериканское соглашение о свободной торговле
22. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – Организация стран – экспортеров нефти (ОПЕК)
23. copyright law – закон об авторских правах
24. free-trade zone – зона свободной торговли
25. capital control – контроль движения капитала
26. bailout n – спасение, выручка
bail out v – спасать, выручать
27. life expectancy – продолжительность жизни
28. mortality n – смертность
mortal a – смертный; смертельный
29. suffrage n –
30.literacy n – грамотность
literate a – грамотный
31. think tank – «мозговой танк»
Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.
1. What does globalization mean in general? 2. What aspeсts does the economic globalization include? 3. What does globalization mean in management terms? 4. What are the key milestones in the history of globalization? 5. What economic trends are connected with globalization? 6. What initiatives contributed to the partial removal of barriers to international trade? 7. What are the arguments of the opponents to globalization? 8. What statistical data do advocates of globalization use to support their views? 9. How is globalization measured?
Exercise 2*. Find terms in the text that match definitions given below and make sentences of your own with each term.
1. international trade that is not regulated by tariffs, duties or quotas
2. zone of duty-free foreign trade within the territory of a given state
3. international organization fostering international monetary cooperation through the stabilization of exchange rates, the removal of foreign exchange restrictions and the facilitation of international payments and of international liquidity
4. a treaty signed in 1992 by the member states of the then European Community intended to inaugurate a new stage in the process of European integration
5. a company having production and other facilities in a number of countries outside the nation of origin
6. an agreement for a tariff-free area established between the USA, Canada and Mexico
7. the use of customs tariff and non-tariff policy to protect national economy or ensure unilateral competitive advantages
8. a market in which securities are bought and sold
9. organization set up in 1995 following the conclusion of the Uruguay round of trade negotiations that replaced GATT
Exercise 3. You are a journalist writing for The New York Times and you are to interview an expert from A.T. Kearney who calculated globalization indices for the U.S. and Russia. Make a dialogue between these two individuals using the following briefing materials.
The Schizophrenic United States. The world superpower became a bit more global in 2003, climbing three spots in the globalization index to the 4th position. But a quick glance at the U.S. report card reveals a hit-or-miss performance. The U.S. put up stratospheric numbers in the technology basket, ranking first in the number of Internet hosts and the number of secure servers. But the U.S. lagged far behind in categories including trade, FDI, and treaty commitments. In part, the U.S. lackluster perfomance in economic areas is due to its vibrant domestic market. Because many U.S. producers can focus exclusively on satisfying U.S. consumers, the United States is a less trade-dependent nation than small exporting countries such as Singapore and Ireland. In some ways, the U.S. economy is a world unto itself. The Bush administration often acted similarly aloof in political and diplomatic terms. Consider the United States’ skepticism of international treaty regimes. In 2003, the Bush administration continued to turn up its nose at a variety of international agreements. The White House’s opposition to the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court is well known. But the Bush administration didn’t even want to sign on to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes. The U.S. looks suspiciously at many of the new legal and institutional arrangements that are binding world together, at least on paper.