2017-11-01
847
The Productivity of Labor
1. Clearly, our standard of living depends on our opportunities to consume, and that depends on our ability to produce. The productivity of labor is the amount of goods and services produced per hour of labor input. Higher productivity makes possible a higher standard of living because it allows society to increase the consumption of goods and services, or leisure, or environmental quality, or all three.
2.The productivity of labor is determined by the amount of land and capital available per worker, the level of technology embodied in that capital, the skills of the workers who use it, and the creativity of its entrepreneurs. Productivity can be increased by producing more capital goods, by advancing technology through research and development, and by improving skills through education and training. Affluent societies are notable for the quantity, quality, and technological advancement of their capital goods and for the high level of skills and education of their citizens. In contrast, poor societies are marked by the paucity of both capital and skills.
3. The process of economic growth, a continuing increase in the standard of living that persists over decades, can only come from growth in the productivity of labor. An increase in the standard of living requires, in turn, that a society devote a portion of its economic output to research and development of new technologies, to education and training of workers, and to the production of new capital goods. This can only happen if society is willing to forgo some immediate consumption of goods and services, freeing a portion of the current output of the economy for investment in future growth.
VIII. Answer the questions:
1. What makes possible a higher standard of living?
2. How can productivity be increased?
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3. What does an increase in the standard of living require?
Variant IV
I. Complete the sentences (1- 9) with the words (a-i):
A) invoices b)exports c) shares d)inflation e) cash f) contribution g) profit
H) scarcity i) goods.
1. The purpose of running a business is to make a ……...
2. The ………..were delivered to the warehouse by lorry.
3. The capital of a limited company is divided into ……..
4. Individuals can deposit ……..resources that are not needed at present.
5. Commercial ……….are issued after the goods are shipped.
6. The UK’s principal ……….are vehicles, machinery and manufactured goods.
7. A (an) ……..is characterized by rising prices within a certain period of time.
8. Albert Einstein is famous for his ………to science.
9. The great trouble is the ……..of water and the intense heat.
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II. Match (1-9) with (a-i) to make up sentences:
| 1. Countries need to adopt international standards 2. The company's internet offshoot 3. Technological change has the potential 4. The new economy will require 5. Small business owners can handle their own accounting 6. Households are the family units that make up society. 7. Henry Ford brought labor and capital together on an assembly line. 8. Education benefits not only the individual but society as a whole. 9. The influence of socialist ideas is evident today in the role of the governments | a) together on an assembly line. b) to transform the lives of people around the world. c) is already making enormous profits. d) in the role of the governments. e) that make up society. f) the individual but society as a whole. g) a policy rethink on many levels. h) on fiscal and financial transparency. i) using packaged software |
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