Joan Robinson

Joan Robinson was born in 1903 in England. She studied Economics at Cambridge until 1935. Joan Robinson returned to Cambridge to teach after a three-year stint in India with her husband, economist Austin Robinson. Joan Robinson earned the position of full lecturer in 1937. During this decade, as she taught, she published three books and several articles.

Many economists stick to one area of study throughout their career. Joan Robinson instead studied and wrote on a greatest number of topics. Initially she was a neoclassical economics supporter. In 1936-37 she got acquainted with John M. Keynes and as one of the most active member of the "Cambridge School" of economics, Robinson assisted with the support and exposition of Keynes's General Theory and wrote especially on its employment implications. In 1942 Robinson mostly concentrated on Karl Marx as an economist, who helped to revive the debate on this aspect of his legacy.

During the Second World War Joan Robinson worked for several committees for the wartime Labour government. In this position she visited both the Soviet Union and China. Joan Robinson praised the Chinese Cultural Revolution and reported her observations and analyses of it in “An Economic Perspective” (1958), “The Cultural Revolution in China” (1969), and “Economic Management in China” (1975-1976). Her main interests were in economics of underdeveloped and developing countries. Robinson’s contributions in this area of economics were really great.

In 1956 Joan Robinson published her magnum opus “The Accumulation of Capital”. Despite the fact that it is now more than 50 years old many people agree that students will learn more about finance, money and credit from this book than from any other textbook.

Close to the end of her life she studied and concentrated on methodological problems in economics and tried to recover the original message of Keynes's General Theory. Between 1962 and 1980 she wrote many books to try and bring several economic theories to the general public. Robinson suggested to develop an alternative to the revival of classical economics.

Joan Robinson never won a Nobel Prize in Economics. Some people believe that this was due to her gender: a female never wins a Nobel Prize in Economics. Other people believe that she never won this prize due to her eclectic study of economics.

Notes:

1. Austin Robinson – [´ostin ´robinsən] Остин Робинсон

2. “An Economic Perspective” – «Экономическая перспектива»

3. “The Cultural Revolution in China” – «Культурная революция в Китае»

4. “Economic Management in China” – «Экономический менеджмент в Китае»

5. “The Accumulation of Capital” – «Накопление капитала»

I. Прочитайте текст (без словаря).

II. Перепишите предложения. Определите по грамматическим признакам, какой частью речи являются слова, оформленные окончанием -s и какую функцию это окончание выполняет, т.е. служит ли оно:

а) показателем 3-го лица единственного числа в Present Indefinite;

б) признаком множественного числа имени существительного;

в) показателем притяжательного падежа имени существительного.

Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. Robinson assisted with the support and exposition of Keynes' General Theory.

2. Joan Robinson was very interested in underdeveloped and developing countries.

3. A female never wins a Nobel Prize in Economics.

4. Joan Robinson’s contributions in this area of economics were really great.

5. She wrote many books to try and bring several economic theories to the general public.

III. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на особенности перевода на русский язык определений, выраженных именем существительным.

1. Robinson wrote especially on employment implications of Keynes's General Theory.

2. During the Second World War Joan Robinson worked for the wartime Labour government.

3. Joan Robinson returned to Cambridge to teach after a three-year stint in India.

4. Her husband Austin Robinson also was a famous economics scientist.

5. Initially Joan Robertson was a neoclassical economics supporter.

IV. Перепишите следующие предложения, содержащие разные формы сравнения, и переведите их на русский язык.

1. Joan Robinson earned the position of full lecturer in 1937.

2. Joan Robinson instead studied and wrote on a greatest number of topics.

3. Students will learn more about finance, money and credit from this book than from any other textbook.

4. Her magnum opus "The Accumulation of Capital" is now more than 50 years old.

5. In 1936-37 she got acquainted with John Maynard Keynes and became one of the most active member of the "Cambridge School" of economics.

V. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в них видо-временные формы глаголов и укажите их инфинитив. Переведите на русский язык.

1. In 1942 Robinson mostly concentrated on Karl Marx as an economist.

2. Many economists stick to one area of study throughout their career.

3. Joan Robinson praised the Chinese Cultural Revolution and reported her observations and analyses of it in her books.

4. She never won this prize due to her eclectic study of economics.

5. Her main interests were in economics of underdeveloped and developing countries.

VI. Перепишите текст и переведите его на русский язык.

VII. Ответьте (письменно) на следующие вопросы к тексту.

1. What area of economics did Joan Robinson stick to?

2. Where did Joan Robinson work throughout her life?

3. What countries did Joan Robinson visit during the Second World War?

4. What is her magnum opus devoted to?

5. Why did Joan Robinson never win a Nobel Prize?