In some cities in Central and Eastern Europe, unemployment is running as high as eighty per cent. Wages have fallen so far behind escalating inflation that immigration controls in the West have had to be tightened to prevent an influx of workers from the East. But, of course, this hasn't stopped some Western companies exploiting cheap labour in both Eastern Europe and South-East Asia, and putting their own employees out of work.
The Working Poor
In the USA, where unemployment benefit is cut after six months and staying out of work is not an option, they are creating jobs at the cost of decreased incomes. For in many of the inner cities of the USA they have something approaching a Third World economy. According to the latest figures, 12.7% of Americans currently live below the poverty-line. The problem is not so much unemployment as underemployment, with millions of people in low-paid, dead-end, so-called McJobs that have zero prospects.
Corporate Rule
The result of all this is that corporations now exercise an unprecedented influence on the global economy and the distribution of wealth, as the world's governments, powerless to regulate them, become increasingly irrelevant. Near-monopolies like Microsoft are hard to fight and in industries like telecoms, the top ten companies control eighty-six per cent of the market. In fact, half the world's richest institutions are not countries but companies. No wonder then that both countries and companies try to conceal the real figures. As the famous saying goes, It's often easier to be economical with the truth than truthful about the economy.
Appendix 4
, :
/, /, . (account current) -
adsd (addressed) -
adse (addressee) - ,
ad (advertisement)- (. - ads)
AOB (any other business) -
. (appendix) -
Attn. (attention) - (-)
cc, cc (copies) -
CEO (chief executive officer) -
Co. (company) -
contr. (contract) -
Corp. (corporation) -
cur. 1. (currency) - ; 2. (current) -
CV (curriculum vitae) -
dd 1. (dated) - ; 2. (delivered) -
Dep., Dept (department) - 1. ; 2.
doc. (document) - (. - docs.)
eaon (except as otherwise noted) -
e.g. (exempli gratia, .) -
enc., encl. (enclosed, enclosure) - , , , ( . .)
etc. (et cetera, .) = and so on ..
exc, excl. (except, excluding, exception, exclusion) - ,
expn (expiration) - ()
fig. (figure) - 1. ; 2. ,
FY (fiscal year) -
h.a. (hoc anno. .) -
|
|
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hf. (half) -
H.Q., HQ, h.q. (headquarters) - (, )
id. (idem, .) -
i.e., ie (id est, .) -
inc., incl. (including) -
Inc, inc. (incorporated) - ()
info (information) -
inv. (invoice) - -
IOU (I owe you) -
L/C, l.c., l/c (letter of credit)
LLC (limited liability company) -
Ltd., ltd. (limited) -
LOC (letter of commitment) -
mdse (merchandise) -
memo (memorandum) -
M.O., m.o. 1. (mail order) - ; 2. (money order) - ,
N/A (not applicable) - (., )
N.B., NB (nota bene, .) -
NC, N.C., n/c (no charge) -
o/l (our letter) - ( )
PA (power of attorney) -
.. (per annum, .) -
par. (paragraph) - , ,
Plc, PLC (public limited company) -
(post office) -
pp. (pages) -
, .. (per pro, .) -
qv (quod vide, .) - (-)
rct (receipt) - ,
rept. (report) -
re (regarding) -
ref. (reference) -
sig. (signature) -
tn. (ton) -
urgt (urgent) -
v., vs. (versus, .) -
VAT (value-added tax) -
V.I.P., VIP (very important person) -
v.s. (vide supra, .) - .
v.v. (vice versa, .) -
w/o (without) -
@ - at
# (number) - (.)
