Regulation and control

The government regulates and controls private enterprise in many ways in order to ensure that business serves the best interests of the people as a whole. Regulation is usually considered necessary in areas where private enterprise has been granted a monopoly, such as in electric or local telephone service, or in any other areas where there is limited competition, as with the railroads. Public policy permits such companies to make reasonable profits, but limits their ability to raise prices "unfairly", because the public depends on their services.

Stabilization and growth

Branches of government, including Congress and such entities as the Federal Reserve System attempt to control the extremes of boom and bust, and of inflation and depression, by adjusting tax rates, the money supply and the use of credit. They can also affect the economy by changing the amount of public spending by the government itself. Normally, the aim is a balanced federal budget.

Direct assistance

The government provides many kinds of help to businesses and individuals. For example, tariffs permit certain products to remain relatively free from foreign competition; imports are sometimes taxed or limited by volume so that American products can better compete with foreign goods. Government also provides aid to farmers by subsidizing prices they receive for their crops.

In quite a different area, government supports individuals who cannot adequately care for themselves by making grants to low-income parents with dependent children, by providing medical care for the aged and indigent, and through social insurance programs that assist the unemployed and retirees. Government also supplies relief for the poor and help for the disabled. (An Outline of the American Economy. — US Information Agency, 1994).

 

Vocabulary list:

to mould (= mold — амер.) the economy — строить, формировать экономику;

to provide = to ensure — обеспечивать;

competition — конкуренция;

to raise prices — поднимать цены;

boom and bust — расцвет, подъем и крах, банкротство;

federal budget — федеральный бюджет;

indigent — нуждающийся, бедный.