1. chip in: contribute money or pay jointly
EXAMPLE: Everyone in our company chipped in some money to buy a wedding present for our boss.
2. clean up: make a lot of money, make a big profit
EXAMPLE: I cleaned up at the horse races last year and still have some of the money left.
3. cold hard cash: cash, coins and bills
EXAMPLE: I paid for my laptop in cold hard cash.
4. cook the books: illegally change information in accounting books in a company
EXAMPLE:The accountant was cooking the books for over a year before he was caught.
5. cut-rate: sell for a price lower than usual
EXAMPLE:We went to a cut-rate furniture store to buy some new furniture for our apartment.
6. deadbeat: person who never pays the money he owes
EXAMPLE: Recently the government has been making an effort to solve the problem of deadbeat dads who don't support their families.
UNIT 7
TEXT 1. Read and translate the text consulting the dictionary if necessary. Then summarize in 8-10 sentences.
INNOVATION ECONOMICS
Innovation economics is a growing economic theory that emphasizes entrepreneurship and innovation. Innovation economics is based on two fundamental tenets: a) that the central goal of economic policy should be to spur higher productivity through greater innovation, and b) that markets relying on input resources and price signals alone will not always be as effective in spurring higher productivity, and thereby economic growth.
This is in contrast to the two other conventional economic doctrines, neoclassical economics and Keynesian economics
A new theory and narrative of economic growth focused on innovation has emerged in the last decades. Innovation economics emerges on the wage of other schools of thoughts in economics, including new institutional economics, new growth theory, endogenous growth theory, evolutionary economics, neo-Schumpeterian economicsprovides an economic framework that explains and helps support growth in todays knowledge economy.
Leading theorists of innovation economics include both formal economists, as well as management theorists, technology policy experts, and others. These include Paul Romer, Elhanan Helpman, W. Brian Arthur, Robert Axtell, Richard R. Nelson, Richard Lipsey, Michael Porter, Christopher Freeman, Igor Yegorov.
Innovation economists believe that what primarily drives economic growth in todays knowledge-based economy is not capital accumulation, as claimed by neoclassicalism experts, but innovative capacity spurred by appropriable knowledge and technological externalities. Economics growth in innovation economics is the end-product of knowledge; regimes and policies allowing for entrepreneurship and innovation technological spillovers and externalities between collaborative firms; and systems of innovation that create innovative environments (i.e., clusters, agglomerations,metropolitan areas).
Empirical evidence worldwide points to a positive link between technological innovation and economic performance. The drive of biotech firms in Germany was due to the R&D subsidies to joint projects, network partners, and close cognitive distance of collaborative partners within a cluster.
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In global economic restructuring, location has become a key element in establishing competitive advantage as regions focus on their unique assets to spur innovation (i.e., information technology in Silicon Valley, CA; digital media in Seoul, South Korea). Even more, thriving metropolitan economies that carry multiple clusters (i.e., Tokyo, Chicago, London) essentially fuel national economies through their pools of human capital, innovation, quality places, and infrastructure. Cities become innovative spaces and cradles of creativity as drivers of innovation. They become essential to the system of innovation through the supply side: ready, available, abundant capital and labor; good infrastructure for productive activities, and diversified production structures that spawn synergies and hence innovation. In addition they grow due to the demand side: diverse population of varying occupations, ideas, skills; high and differentiated level of consumer demand; and constant recreation of urban order especially infrastructure of streets, water systems, energy, and transportation.
Ex.1. Match the terms on the left to the definitions on the right.
1. alliance a) getting control of a company by buying
over 50% of its shares
2.joint venture b) two or more companies joining to form
a larger company
3.LBO (leveraged c) a business activity in which two or more buyout) companies have invested together
4.MBO (management d) when a company's top executives buy the
buyout) company they work for
5.merger e) buying a company using a loan borrowed
against the assets of the company
that's being bought
6. takeover/ f) an agreement between two or more
acquisition organizations to work together
Ex.2. Match the italicised words in the headlines on the left to their meanings on the right.
1.Renault on brink of two alliances. a) offer to buy a company
2. Mannesmann investors split over bid b) connection
3. Banks in merger credits deal c) about, concerning
4. KPN seeks new partners after d) edge
Telefonica blow
5. Deutsche chief criticized over e) announce
Dresdener deal
6. Rival study EMI-Warner link f) disgrace
7.Treasury seeks peace deal in g) agreement
takeover row
8. Wickes fights hostile bid h) support
9.Brussels pressed to block merger i) look for
10. Aircraft group seeks merger $ 300 ml savings j) disagreement
11. WPP and Y&R set to unveil $4 bn merger k) obstruct
12. Takeover backing for Union Fenoza l) bad news
Ex.3. Look at the words and phrases below. Underline the odd one out.
1. a) swamp a market c) flood a market
b) corner a market d) saturate a market
2. a) sluggish market c) stable market
b) flat market d) volatile market
3. a) point of sale c) end user
b) retail outlet d) sales network
