英语阅读,速度解决（3-2）

英语阅读,速度解决（3-2）
In many respects international trade is no different from trade within a country.People who have more of a good than they want seek out other people who have something they lack.Through exchange,both parties attempt to make themselves better off.The complications of international trade arise because the two parties use different monies.An American who wants to buy a Japanese automobile cannot expect the Japanese manufacturer to accept U.S dollars in payment,unless by sheer coincidence the manufacturer happens at the time to want to buy a new computer from an American firm.Otherwise the auto manufacturer will be stuck with money that no tempura shop or geisha in Tokyo will accept; in Japan the dollars are useless.
Of course,things are rarely as complicated as is suggested above.In both the United States and Japan there are banks that specialize in buying and selling foreign currencies.The sophisticated American would never offer dollars to the Japanese.Instead he would go to his bank and purchase Japanese yen with his dollars,then offer yen in payment for the car.Availability of yen would then make trade with Japan no more complicated than buying groceries at a neighborhood supermarket.But what is the price of yen?This question is more than slightly important.If yen are cheap—if many can be bought for a dollar—then buying Japanese goods will be attractive to Americans,and American goods will be expensive to Japanese buyers.
The quantities of goods exchanged between two countries depend on complex forces.Even though unfettered trade might allow the world to consume more,each country is likely to be more concerned about employment and incomes at home than about economist’s assurances of the efficiency of trade.Both countries may therefore try to encourage exports and discourage imports.Obviously,both countries cannot succeed at once.
There is another side of the situation for many countries—the developing countries especially,but also small island nations,such as Japan and Great Britain.Their ability to import goods in the future may be as important as economic efficiency and full employment in the present.These countries depend on imports of spare parts,equipment,and raw material to keep their economies operating.Not to have the foreign exchange to buy a new bearing for a steam turbine,or oil,or fertilizer,