What is franchising?
Task 2. Read and retell the text.
A period of increased sending that causes rapid rises in price is referred to as
weakness in an economic system. When your money buys fewer goods so that you get
less for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the problem. There is a general
rise in the price of goods and services. Your money buys less.
Sometimes people
describe inflation as a time when "a dollar is not worth a dollar anymore."
One major cause of inflation is a rising demand for goods and' services. As people spend
more money, their rate of spending may increase faster than the
goods and services
available. More and more people are willing and able to pay more for the fewer things
that are available. As a
consequence, the prices keep going up.
The second cause of inflation is a rise in the cost of the factors of production. Prices are
pushed up by costs. For instance, if the labor cost of producing a good or service goes
up, so will the price of the good or service.
The third cause of inflation is a lack of competition. If
sellers have little or no
competition, they are free to set prices as they want.
If there is little competition, buyers
must buy from businesses that
are selling, and they must pay the price asked.
Inflation is a problem for all consumers. People who live on a fixed income are hurt
the most. Retired people,
for instance, cannot count on an increase in income as prices
rise. Elderly people who no longer can work face serious problems
in stretching their
incomes to meet their needs in times of inflation. Retirement
income or any fixed
income usually does not rise as fast as prices.