Economics - The Invisible Hand
Here is a short Economics listening exercise I did my students a while back. Read through the list of words and guess where they go in the text first, then listen to the video and see if you were correct! If there are any words you don't know then look them up in www.reverso.net - this is a pretty good online dictionary and translation site.
Extra: Spot the phrasal verb that always comes up in a TOEFL exam!
Here is a link to the video clip: The Invisible Hand
Use the words below to complete the text of the video clip.
economist | hands-off | stall | tricky | leave | free- marketeers |
freely |
positive |
central | reach | traders | lower | enough |
meantime |
case |
figure | compete | spoilt | charges | visible | equilibrium |
An economy is a ______________________ thing to control and governments are always
_______________________ out how to do it. Back in 1776, ____________________
Adam Smith shocked everyone by saying that what governments should actually do is just
leave everyone alone to buy and sell _________________ among themselves. He
suggested that if they just _______________________ self-interested
______________________ to ______________ with one another, markets are guided to
_____________________ outcomes as if by an Invisible Hand. If someone
_____________________ less than you, customers will buy from them instead so you'll
have to ____________________ the price or offer something better. Whenever
_____________________people demand something, they'll be supplied by the market like
_____________________ children only in this _________________ everyone's happy.
Later ____________________ like Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek argued that this
"________________" approach actually works better than any _______________________
plan. But the problem is, economies can take a long time to ____________________ their
_____________________________ and may even ______________ along the way and in
the ______________________ people can get a little frustrated which is why governments
usually end up taking things into their own more __________________ hands instead.
Answers below - scroll down!
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Answers
An economy is a tricky thing to control
and governments are always trying to figure out how to do it. Back in
1776, economist, Adam Smith shocked everyone by saying that what
governments should actually do is leave just everyone alone to buy
and sell freely among themselves. He suggested that if they just
leave self-interested traders to compete with one another, markets
are guided to positive outcomes as if by an Invisible Hand. If
someone charges less than you, customers will buy from them instead
so you'll have to lower the price or offer something better. Whenever
enough people demand something, they'll be supplied by the market
like spoilt children only in this case, everyone's happy. Later
free-marketeers like Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek argued that
this « hands-off » approach actually works better than
any central plan. But the problem is, economies can take a long time
to reach their equilibrium, and may even stall along the way and in
the meantime, people can get a little frustrated which is why
governments usually end up taking things into their own more visible
hands instead.
And the phrasal verb?
to figure out - it's often in TOEFL conversations so a good one to learn!
I appreciate feedback so let me know what else you want to see re TOEFL stuff!
Thanks and bye for now!