Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 688 views

    Homework Unit 25,26,27,28 IDI

    Uploaded by

    Lisbeth Carmona
    This document contains summaries of several listening passages about various topics related to business, economics, and climate change. In the first listening passage, the speaker discusses an alternative approach some companies take to layoffs when increasing efficiency—reducing average working hours rather than jobs, so employees can spend extra time training and developing skills. This leads to better quality of life and work for employees as well as increased productivity. The second passage describes a Korean company that took this approach and saw big gains in productivity as workers were properly rested.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Homework Unit 25,26,27,28 IDI

    Uploaded by

    Lisbeth Carmona
    688 views5 pages
    This document contains summaries of several listening passages about various topics related to business, economics, and climate change. In the first listening passage, the speaker discusses an alternative approach some companies take to layoffs when increasing efficiency—reducing average working hours rather than jobs, so employees can spend extra time training and developing skills. This leads to better quality of life and work for employees as well as increased productivity. The second passage describes a Korean company that took this approach and saw big gains in productivity as workers were properly rested.

    Original Description:

    Homeword unidades completadas

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This document contains summaries of several listening passages about various topics related to business, economics, and climate change. In the first listening passage, the speaker discusses an alternative approach some companies take to layoffs when increasing efficiency—reducing average working hours rather than jobs, so employees can spend extra time training and developing skills. This leads to better quality of life and work for employees as well as increased productivity. The second passage describes a Korean company that took this approach and saw big gains in productivity as workers were properly rested.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    688 views5 pages

    Homework Unit 25,26,27,28 IDI

    Uploaded by

    Lisbeth Carmona
    This document contains summaries of several listening passages about various topics related to business, economics, and climate change. In the first listening passage, the speaker discusses an alternative approach some companies take to layoffs when increasing efficiency—reducing average working hours rather than jobs, so employees can spend extra time training and developing skills. This leads to better quality of life and work for employees as well as increased productivity. The second passage describes a Korean company that took this approach and saw big gains in productivity as workers were properly rested.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    Lisbeth Carmona 2017-0808

    UNIT 25
    LISTENING 1: EFFICIENCY AND THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

    Listen to Anna-Kim Hyung-Seung, who you heard in Units 14 and 24, talking about alternatives to laying
    off employees, and answer the questions.

    1. What do companies normally do when they increase their efficiency?


    Reduce their number of employees
    2. What is the alternative that Anna-Kim Hyun-Seung mentions?
    Reducing average number of working hours per employee, so that the employees can spend
    time on training, development, and education
    3. What were the consequences for the employees in the case mentioned?
    They had a better quality of life, and a better work / life balance, and become more efficient at
    work

    LISTENING 2: EFFICIENCY, TRAINING AND PRODUCTIVITY

    Listen to Anna-Kim Hyung-Seung about a Korean company and answer the questions.

    1. What do Yuhan-Kimberly do?


    They make toilet paper, tissues and sanitary items in South Korea, in a joint venture with the
    American company Kimberly clark
    2. Why do they have a good reputation?
    They have a long history of socially responsible corporate policies and practices
    3. What was the company’s solution to the problem they faced?
    They cut the number of average working hours rather than cutting the number of employees.
    Everyone worked for 12-hour shifts and then took four days off, one of which was spent on a
    training programme
    4. What were the consequences?
    The workers responded well and there was a big increase in productivity as the workers were
    properly rested

    COMPREHENSION

    1. What does the post office want to do?


    They want to reduce the number of sorting offices from 25 to three large, efficient, automated
    ones.
    2. Why do they say this is necessary?
    Because it is necessary to become more efficient and competition. They are also facing a
    continuing decrease in the volume of mail.
    3. What are the advantages and disadvantages?
    The main advantage would be cost savings due to rationalization; the main disadvantages are
    that 4,500 people would lose their jobs, and many of the 5,500 people who retained their jobs
    would have longer journeys to work and would have to work at night
    4. Who is for and who is against the plan?
    Lisbeth Carmona 2017-0808

    The trade unions and local governments where sorting office would be closed are against the
    plan; local governments in the area where the three new centres are planned are in favour of
    the project

    UNIT 26
    COMPREHENSION

    Write question to which these could be the answer, according to the text.

    1. A system in which the Federal Reserve could exchange gold for all the paper money, if
    necessary
    What was gold convertibility?
    2. Because of inflation
    Why did gold convertibility and in 1971?
    3. By the number of buyers and sellers
    How is a floating exchange rate determined?
    4. The cost of a given selection of goods and services would be the same
    What would happen if there was purchasing power parity? Or what would happen if currencies
    were correctly valued?
    5. To get a higher interest rate or make a capital gain
    Why do speculators buy foreign currencies?
    6. About 95%
    What proportion of currency transactions are speculative?
    7. By buying futures contracts
    How can companies try to protect themselves against currency fluctuations?
    8. By buying or selling they currency on the exchange markets
    How can governments attempt to influence the value of their currency?
    9. Because speculators have much more money than governments
    Why are governments’ or central banks’ attempts to influence exchange rates not very
    successful?

    LISTENING 1: CURRENCY FLOWS AND THE TOBIN TAX

    Listen to Michael Kitson, who you heard in Units 22 and 23, talking about a possible way of limiting
    currency speculation, and answer the questions.

    1. What is ‘hot money’?


    Money that is invested in a currency for a very short time
    2. What are the ‘real effects’ of financial crises that Kitson mentions?
    Increased unemployment and falling output
    3. What is a Tobin Tax?
    A very small tax on currency purchase and currency selling, designed to reduce currency
    speculation
    4. What is ‘highly leverage’ currency trading?
    Buying or selling currency with borrowed money
    5. What would be the probable effect of Tobin Tax?
    Lisbeth Carmona 2017-0808

    It would probably reduce or “dampen down” currency trading and currency fluctuations

    6. What has happened that makes some people think a Tobin Tax could now be introduced?
    ICT (information and communication technology) makes global coordination possible

    LISTENING 2: DEVELOPING AFRICA

    Listen to Michael Kitson talking about how the Tobin Tax could be spent, and answer the questions

    1. Why don’t individual firms invest a lot of money in Africa?


    Because they won’t get a sufficient rate of return, or a profit
    2. What would be the benefits of spending the money generated by the Tobin Tax in Africa?
    Africa would get a significant social rate of return: better education, better economic growth,
    better standards of living, longer life expectancy etc.

    UNIT 27
    LISTENING 1: FREE TRADE

    Listen to Michael Kitson talking about the consequences of free trade, and answer the questions

    1. What are the problems with economic models?


    They are simplified, and not always useful in explaining how the real-world works, and
    sometimes there are exceptions
    2. What is standard argument for free trade?
    Everyone becomes better off, there is more efficiency, and we can consume more goods and
    services
    3. What is the example Kitson gives?
    A developed country producing both computers and cloth, and an underdeveloped country
    that’s trying to produce computers and cloth
    4. Who loses in this example, and why?
    Workers in cloth factory in a developed country who lose their jobs, and who might find it very
    difficult to get new jobs, because they are in the wrong part of the country, or don’t have the
    right skills
    5. What is Kitson’s suggested alternative to ‘unfettered free trade’?
    Some kind of transition process (between no trade and free trade)

    LISTENING 2: EXCEPTIONS TO FREE TRADE

    Listen to Michael Kitson talking about exceptions to free trade and answer the questions.

    1. Why would the developing country not want to specialize only in cloth?
    Because other goods and service have a higher value addesd and would generate higher wages
    and economic growth
    2. What would help or enable the country to move into new sectors?
    Lisbeth Carmona 2017-0808

    Protecting the new sectors of the economy to let them develop and grow, until they have a
    comparative advantage and can compete with other countries

    3. What reasons does Kitson give for considering and industry or sector as strategic in a
    advanced country?
    They may generate economies of scale, and benefit other parts of the economy (By way of
    positive externalities)

    4. What example does he give of strategic industry, and what are its advantages?
    Aerospace, with generates knowledge that goes into the automotive industry (Motor vehicles),
    electrical engineering, etc

    UNIT 28
    COMPREHENSION

    1. Why does Christian Gollier think it is not necessary to invest today in technologies that will
    reduce the future impact of climate change?
    Because most of the consequences will not appear before the year 2100, and the people living
    then will be much wealthier than us, and so will be able to something then
    2. Why would the benefits, in the distant future, of spending money today be small?
    Because the future value of money spent today has to be discounted by the rate of return of
    capital over the intervening period
    3. What policies does Gollier say would help people in poor countries today?
    Spending money on fighting malaria, and improving access to clean drinking water
    4. What effect does Gollier say cutting carbon dioxide emissions will have on poor countries?
    It will force them to spend come of the benefits of their economic growth on things other than
    fighting poverty (which should be the first priority)

    LISTENING 1: A BIG STEP FORWARD

    Martin Beniston is Professor of Climatology at the University of Geneva. Listen to him talking about
    climate change and answer the questions

    1. What examples does Martin Beniston give of ‘moving forward in the right directions’?
    Both governments and large companies are now addressing urgent energy and climate issues
    2. What is Beniston’s revervation about the G8 Declaration?
    There is no guarantee that the G8 declaration will be put into effect, or that the necessary
    technology will be available
    3. What does he describe China and India?
    As emerging economic giants
    4. What is the situation regarding these-countries?
    They are not very keen on the G8’s proposals, but there will be problems if they don’t accept
    them (as china is now responsible for almost as many carbon emissions as the united stated).
    Lisbeth Carmona 2017-0808

    Article "Education and protection" (p 133)


    1. Explain in detail the analogy Chang makes between child labour and free trade (or between
    education and protectionism)

    The analogy is that the investment comes in the form of protection, which makes, for the moment, your
    local consumer use expensive and inferior domestic products. But unless you do that, these industries
    are not going to grow. You accept that you will use inferior products from inefficient producers for the
    time being. In the meantime, you do certain things to make sure that these firms grow up, i.e. they
    increase their productivity and eventually give you cheaper domestic goods, create jobs and stimulate
    other activities. In the end, you are better off that way. So, inefficiency is part of the deal. Only
    deliberately nou inefficiencies are creating the view of becoming even these with more efficient than
    otherwise possible.

    2. Explain the short-term disadvantage of protecting infant industries.


    Low-income elasticity of demand. As incomes rise, demand for primary products increases only
    slowly. Therefore relying on primary products limits economic development.

    Price volatility. Many primary products have a volatile price because supply and demand are
    inelastic. In this case, it is good to diversify the economy.
    3. Which industries or sectors of the economy do you think could be usefully protected in DR,
    until they had a comparative advantage? Explain your answer
    the manufacturing sector

    You might also like