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Food as Pleasure in France and Italy
Vocabulary and Expressions
soften up myth-busting pastoral croissantFood as Pleasure in France and Italy
“ Food in France is still primarily about pleasure,“ says Mark Singer, technical director of cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. “Cooking and eating are both pastime and pleasure. “ The French might start their day with bread, butter, jam, and perhaps something hot to drink — “ There’s no way that it would expand to eggs and bacon,“ says Singer —but it’s a time of the day when the whole family can be united. Singer, who was born in Philadelphia, has lived in France for more than 40 years. “Things have changed dramatically in the past 20 years when it comes to food in the country,“ he says. “What was a big affair with eating has slowly softened up. There are still events in the year, like birthdays and New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve that still stay really anchored into traditional food and cooking. But it’s not every day. “
“ Some of the ideas of French food life may be a performance,“ says Berg, a professor at a university in Paris. “ I led a course this summer on myth-making and myth-busting and the performance of Frenchness. The students want to believe that France is this pastoral nation where people are spending five hours a day going to 12 different markets to get their food. The reality is most croissants are factory made, and most people are buying convenience food, except for the very elite. But part of our identity relies on believing that mythology. “
How a country savors a food is also telling. In Italy, as in France, takeout is still relatively rare. “Eating fast is not at all part of our culture,“ says Marco Bolasco, editorial director of Slow Food and an Italian food expert. “ Our meals are relaxed, even during lunch break. Food in Italy is love, then nutrition, then history, then pleasure,“ he says. “An Italian child’s first experience with food is not buns or rice or eggs, but probably ice cream“ , notes Bolasco.
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Stock Market
Vocabulary and Expressions
debt market liquid investment up-and-coming counterparty
liquidity immoveable assets clearinghouse default
securities indicatorStock Market
The stock market is one of the most important ways for companies to raise money, along with debt markets which are generally more imposing but do not trade publicly. This allows businesses to be publicly traded, and raise additional financial capital for expansion by selling shares of ownership of the company in a public market. The liquidity that an exchange affords the investors enables their holders to quickly and easily sell securities. This is an attractive feature of investing in stocks, compared to other less liquid investments such as property and other immoveable assets. Some companies actively increase liquidity by trading in their own shares.
History has shown that the price of stocks and other assets is an important part of the dynamics of economic activity, and can influence or be an indicator of social mood. An economy where the stock market is on the rise is considered to be an up-and-coming economy. In fact, the stock market is often considered the primary indicator of a country’s economic strength and development.
Rising share prices, for instance, tend to be associated with increased business investment and vice versa. Share prices also affect the wealth of households and their consumption. Therefore, central banks tend to keep an eye on the control and behavior of the stock market and, in general, on the smooth operation of financial system functions.
Exchanges also act as the clearinghouse for each transaction, meaning that they collect and deliver the shares, and guarantee payment to the seller of a security. This eliminates the risk to an individual buyer or seller that the counterparty could default on the transaction.
The smooth functioning of all these activities facilitates economic growth in that lower costs and enterprise risks promote the production of goods and services as well as possibly employment. In this way the financial system is assumed to contribute to increased prosperity, although some controversy exists as to whether the optimal financial system is bank-based or market-based.
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IMF’s Concern about Zimbabwe’s Economy
Vocabulary and Expressions
International Monetary Fund macro-economic fundamentals international institutions
coalition government agriculture-based economy write-offIMF’s Concern about Zimbabwe’s Economy
The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, says Zimbabwe’s debt remains a serious problem for the country’s financial future. The IMF released a report this week that said Zimbabwe’s high growth rate would slow down to five percent this year. Poor harvests are partly to blame. But concerns about upcoming elections to change the country’s three-year-old coalition government add to economic worries.
The IMF predicts that growth will slow to about four percent in the years immediately ahead. Zimbabwe’s economy had shown strong growth of over nine percent in the past two years. And experts warn that Zimbabwe’s economy will not improve unless agricultural production increases.
John Robertson from Robertson Economic Information Services says the IMF expects to see changes in Zimbabwe. He said that, “the IMF is trying to promote us or prompt us to make changes. They do suggest that they want to see changes before they become more generous with their assistance. And they will not be supporting much in the way of assistance to the country until they see change. “
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti said he believes his country is economically secure although it carries heavy debt.
The minister believes that the country’s macro-economic fundamentals are sound, and that there is no reason at all why a positive decision would not be made in their favor.
The IMF says Zimbabwe’s debt now stands at about ten point seven billion dollars.
Zimbabwe’s agriculture-based economy began to weaken a decade ago. After ten years of economic problems, Zimbabwe’s economy has improved since the creation of a unity government several years ago. But Tendai Biti has said the recovery will remain weak until international institutions such as the IMF cancel Zimbabwe’s debt.
Economist John Robertson says the finance minister was wrong to expect IMF to be merciful to Zimbabwe. He said that “I think the clemency issue was not in any sense a write-off or a forgiveness of debt. The IMF does not do that. “
