Money is not only a means of exchan

Money is not only a means of exchange but is also a means of measuring
the value of men’s labour. In economic theory, “labour” is any work undertaken
in return for a fixed payment. The work undertaken by a mother in caring for
her children may be hard, but it receives no fixed payment. It is not therefore
labour in the strict economic sense.
As a scientist, the economist is interested in measuring the services which
people render to each other. Although he is aware of the services which people
provide for no financial reward, he is not concerned with these services. He is
interested essentially in services which are measurable in terms of money
payments for a fixed and / or regular nature. In economics, money is the
standard by which the value of things is judged. This standard is an objective
and scientific one.
Human labour produces both goods and services. The activities of a
farmworker and a nurse are very different, but both are measurable in terms
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of payments received. Labour in this sense is not concerned with distinctions
of social class, but simply with the payment of wages in return for work. The
national labour force are those people who are available for work within the
nation, i. e. the working population.
It should be noted that any person engaged in private business is self-
employed and his activities are partly those of an employer and partly those of
an employee. If however he employs an assistant, to whom he pays a fixed
wage, his new employee provides labour in return for payment. The employer
receives the surplus (large or small) from the whole business. This surplus is
the reward of private enterprise and is known as profit.
EXERCISES
1. Give Russian equivalents to the following:
a means of exchange, a means of measuring, in return for a fixed payment, in
the strict economic sense, financial reward, in terms of money,human labour,
distinctions of social class, payment of wages, national labour force, it should be
noted, self-employed, fixed wage, to receive surplus, reward of private enterprise.
2. Make sentences by adding a suitable beginning to the following:
1. …. but with the payment of wages in return of work.
2. ….. is not labour in the strict economic sense.
3. ……is known as profit.
4. ……in return for a fixed payment.
5. ……the working population.
6. ……also a means of measuring the value of men’s labour.
3. Complete the following sentences in any way you like.
1. In economic theory …….
2. It should be noted that …..
3. As a scientist, the economist …..
4. In economics, money …….
5. Human labour ……
6. The national labour force …..
4. Answer some questions on the Text:
What is money, in addition to being a means of exchange?
What, in economic theory, is “labour”?
Why is a mother’s work not “labour”?
What does the economist measure?
What two words are used to describe the money standard?
What common factor relates to the work of the nurse and the farmworker?
What is labour (in the economic sense) not concerned with?
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