Переведенная на английский лекция по теме Money and banking (деньги и банковское дело), the role of banks (роль банков), modern banking (современная банковская система)

MONEY AND BANKING

(ДЕНЬГИ И
БАНКОВСКОЕ ДЕЛО)

Money and its
Funсtions. Деньги, их функции.

Although the crucial feature of money is
its acceptance as the means of payment оr medium of
exchange, money has other
functions. It serves as a standard of-value, a unit of account, a store of
value and ft a standard of deferred payment. We discuss each of the
functions of money in turn.

The Medium of
Exchange. Средство обращения.

Money, the medium of exchange, is used in
one-half of almost аЦ exchange. Workers exchange labour services
for money. People buy and sell goods in exchange for money. We accept money not
to consume it directly but because it can subsequently be used to pay
things we do wish to consume. Money is the medium through, which people
exchange goods and services.

To see that society benefits from a medium
of exchange, imagine a barter economy.

A barter economy has no medium of exchange. Goods are
traded directly or swapped for other goods.

In a barter economy, the seller and the
buyer each must want something the other has to offer. Each person is
simultaneously a seller and a buyer. In order to see a film, you must hand
over in exchange a good or service that the cinema manager wants. There has
to be a double coincidence of wants. You have to find a cinema where the
manager wants what you have to offer in exchange.

Trading is very expensive in a barter
economy. People must spend a tot of time and effort finding others with whom
they can make mutually satisfactory swaps. Since time and effort are scarce
resources, a barter economy is wasteful. The use of monеу -
any commodity generally accepted in payment for goods, services, and debts -
makes the trading process simpler and more efficient.

Other Functions
of Моnеу. Другие функции денег

Money can also serve
as a standard of value. Society considers it
convenient to use a monetary unit to determine relative costs of
different goods and services. In this function money appears as the unit
of account,  is the unit in which prices are quoted and accounts are
kept.

In Russia prices
are quoted in roubles; in Britain, in pounds sterling; in the USA, in US
dollars; in France, in French francs. It is usually convenient to use the units
in which the medium of exchange is measured as the unit of account as well. However
there are exceptions. During the rapid German inflation of 1922 - 1923 when
prices in marks were changing very quickly, German shopkeepers found it more
convenient to use dollars as the unit of account. Prices were quoted in dollars
even though payment was made in marks, the German medium of exchange.

The situation in
Russia nowadays reminds of that of in Germany.