Marian Beane, Director of the International Student Office, in Charlotte, usa,

described the major American values in the following way:

Individuality: Americans are encouraged at an early age to be independent and to develop their own goals in life. They are encouraged to not depend too much on others including their friends, teachers and parents. They are rewarded when they try to reach their goals themselves.

Privacy: Americans like their privacy and enjoy spending time alone. Foreign visitors will find American homes and offices open, but what is inside the American mind is considered to be private. To ask the question "What is on your mind?" may be considered to be rude.

Equality: Americans believe that everyone "is created equal" and has the same rights. This includes women and men of all ethnic and cultural groups living in the U.S. Managers, directors, presidents and even university instructors are often addressed by their first name.

Time: Americans try to make the best use of their time. In the business world, "time is money". Being "on time" for class, an appointment, or for dinner with your family is very important.

Informality: The American lifestyle is generally casual. Students go to class in shorts and t-shirts. Professors seldom wear a tie and some may even wear jeans. Greetings and farewells are usually short, informal and friendly. Students may greet each other with "hi", "how are you?" and "what's up?".

Achievement and hard work: A competitive spirit is often the motivating factor to work harder. Americans often compete with them selves as well as others. Americans seem to always be "on the go", because sitting and doing nothing means a waste of time.

Direct and assertive: Americans try to discuss their differences face-to-face and without a mediator. They are encouraged to speak up and give their opinions. This manner of direct speaking is often interpreted by foreign visitors as rude.

Modern Economic Thought

Moderns economic thought began with Adam Smith in the late le century. He wrote a famous book Them Wealth of Nations, which gave him the title "the father of economics".

Adam Smith believed the efficiency of production depended on the combination of labour with other factors of production. The more efficient the combination the greater the nation's wealth.

Тhе heart of Smith's economic philosophy was his idea that the economy would work best if it functioned without government regulation. In this case self-interested businesses would produce only those products that consumers wanted and produce them at the lowest cost. All this self-interest would benefit society as a whole by providing it with more and better goods and services, at the lowest prices. Smith called this principle of free regulation in the economy the "invisible hand". It was also Smith's name for the economic

forces, known today as supply and demand.

In the 19iь century, Karl Marx combined a number of schools of thought to produce his greatest work Capital. Here are some ideas of Manx:

1. The economic interpretation of history. It means that you should forget about things like great men and women, religion, patriotism, and the

like. Look only at the economic events of the time to understand the real reasons of things (for example, the history itself was called a series of struggles between economic classes).

Тhе exploitation of labour. According to Manx, workers are paid enough to stay alive, that's why profits should belong not to the factory owner — the capitalist, but to those, who really deserve it: the workers.

Capitalism's collapse. Under this system, the rich would get richer and the poor, poorer. If poor workers were not able to buy goods and services they produced one day, it would be the last day of the class struggle. In this, the capitalists who had been exploiting the workers would fail.

International Trade

International trade is exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. Industrialization, transportation, and globalization influence the international trade system. Depending on what a country produces and needs, it can export (sell goods to another country) and import (buy goods from another country).

The main difference between international trade and domestic trade is that governments control international trade by means of tariffs (or duties) and quotas. A tariff is a tax on imported goods, and a quota is the number of goods, that must be produced or imported into a country during a certain period of time. These measures increase the price of imported goods to "protect" national economy. International organizations such as the ITO (World Trade Organization) and EFT (European Free Trade Organization) regulate tariffs and reduce trade restrictions between member countries.

Two basic concepts describe the process of international trade – the concept of specialization and the concept of economic interdependence.

The concept of specialization focuses on comparative advantage, when countries specialize in producing what they produce best. A nation's comparative advantage is measured in relation to all of the goods and services the nation produces. Bye specializing in production, each nation can make the best use of its available resources.

Economic interdependence is another force which stimulates international trade. It means that the distribution of resources often gives a nation an absolute advantage in the production of a particular product. Absolute advantage means that using the same resources one nation can produce a product at a lower cost than a second nation.

Brazils, for example, enjoys an absolute advantage over the United States in coffee production. Brazils resources – especially its land, climate and labor force let this country produce large quantities of coffee at a relatively low price compared to the costs for coffee production in the United States. Thus, it is to Brazils advantage to export coffee to the United States. The United States, on the other hand, enjoys an absolute advantage over Brazils in many other areas, particularly in the production of manufactured goods. The United States has natural resources, a highly skilled labor force and well-developed means of production for consumer and capital goods. Thus, it is to the advantage of the United States to export manufactured goods to Brazil.