20. Costs of economic growth. Labour problems.

In recent years, many people have argued that economic growth is a mixed blessing. The advantages of growth are fairly clear. What are the disadvantages then? Four of them are: (1) use of natural resources that cannot be replaced, (2) generation of waste products, (3) destruction of natural environments, (4) uneven growth among different groups of society.

There is one more problem concerning economic growth that is called labour problem. At the time of growth the old equipment is replaced with the new one, and many workers become redundant because the work they do are no longer required. For example, the introduction of computer typesetting spelled unemployment for many Linotype and other machine operators. The research showed that the computerization spells unemployment on one hand but makes a lot of jobs easier on the other.

Those who lost their jobs in this connection either find full or part-time employment or take retraining programs.

The study showed that employment was closely connected with age, ability to obtain new skills, family status and so on.

I think I ought to say right from the start that the retraining of people over 50 has no common sense, because the probability of finding a new job in new specialty is very small. Employers are looking for young professionals. Retraining of young professionals will be repaid in the future.

For one thing no retraining of workers will save a lot of money, for another this will entail social problems. In the families of the unemployed will develop poverty. Usually this leads to an increase in crime, alcoholism and drug addiction. But the truth is more costly for the society.

In the end, I would like to say about the benefits to the economy in the retraining of workers. If the worker will receive a new good profession, then He will find high-paying job, which means unemployment will be less.

21. An annual report of the company.

Stockholders and potential investors use the annual report to evaluate the performance of the corporation. The ability to read an annual report is a basic skill for understanding how a business operates.

The annual report is a message to the stockholders (the owners) of a corporation from the corporate management. The report tells the stockholders the company's financial status at the end of the fiscal year and what the management sees for the future. Also, the annual report fulfils a legal requirement. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a federal agency in the USA, requires corporations to publish financial information about their firm.

Annual reports are divided into two sections.

The first section contains a letter to the stockholders from the chief executive officer (CEO) of the corporation. Accompanying this letter summarizing the corporation's performance is a chart of financial highlights.

The second section includes statistics on the company's performance. Most of the information appears in charts and graphs.

The balance sheet is a chart that includes the assets (items of value the company owns) and its liabilities (debts or claims against the assets of the company). The balance sheet represents the financial picture of the firm at one instant in time.

Various parts of the annual report can be used to determine whether a corporation is profitable. Also important to stockholders and investors is the company's return on sales. This percentage is calculated by dividing profit by total sales or revenue.

Whether a particular company's stock is a good investment depends on the investor's goals.

If the real goal is income, the investor would consider a company that has paid high dividends over the years.

If the goal is a long-term profit, the investor would consider a company that has a grown potential. The company may not pay dividends since it will be using profits to expand. However, if the company grows and stays profitable, the price of its stock will increase.