to the right of the clickable line of text.
to the right of the clickable line of text.
VOCABULARY:
経済学（けい、ざい、がく） = economics; 原則（げん、そく） = principle; 〜によれば = according to~; 需要（じゅ、よう） = demand; 増える（ふ） = to increase; 価格（か、かく） = price; 上がる（あ） = to go up; 減る（へ） = to decrease; 下がる（さ） = to go down; 一方（いっ、ぽう） = one side/aspect (of the two of an issue or argument); 供給（きょう、きゅう） = supply; 市場（し、じょう） = market; これら = these; 要因（よう、いん） = factor; 〜によって = by~; 決定する（けっ、てい） = to determine
TRANSLATION:
According to the economic principle, if the demand increases, the price will go up, and if the demand decreases, the price will go down. On the other hand, if the supply increases, the price will go down, and if the supply decreases, the price will go up. The market price is determined by these factors.
EXPLANATION:
(1) The verbs 増える, 減る, 上がる, and 下がる are all intransitive verbs. They don't take an object of the verb. The transitive versions of these verbs are 増やす, 減らす, 上げる, and 下げる. These verbs take an object as in 供給を増やす "to increase the supply".
(2) The 仮定形 (katei-form, i.e., conditional-form) of the verbs 増える and 減る are 増えれ and 減れ. When you memorize katei-forms, attach the conditional particle ば, so that you memorize the phrases 増えれば and 減れば, not just 増えれ and 減れ. The katei-forms of verbs all end with the /e/ sound, and the formation method is all the same for any type of verbs. Just change the final hiragana of the 終止形 (shuushi-form, i.e., dictionary-form) into the /e/ sound. For example, 読む becomes 読め, 見る becomes 見れ, 食べる becomes 食べれ, 来る（くる） becomes 来れ（くれ）, and する becomes すれ. There is no exception with verbs.
(3) The passive form of the verb する is される. The form is the mizen-form さ plus the passive auxiliary れる. All the kanji+する verbs can be made into passive by changing the する part into される. For example, 決定する becomes 決定される, 開発する "to develop" becomes 開発される "to be developed", and 展示する "to exhibit" becomes 展示される "to be exhibited". However, some verbs are rarely used in passive: 英語が勉強される "English is studied" sounds awkward.
VOCABULARY:
資本主義（し、ほん、しゅ、ぎ） = capitalism; 社会主義（しゃ、かい、しゅ、ぎ） = socialism; 共産主義（きょう、さん、しゅ、ぎ） = communism; 経済（けい、ざい） = economy; 市場（し、じょう） = market; 自由競争（じ、ゆう、きょう、そう） = free competition; 原則（げん、そく） = principle; 企業（き、ぎょう） = firm/company/corporation; 独占（どく、せん） = monopoly; 禁じる（きん） = to prohibit; 独占禁止法（どく、せん、きん、し、ほう） = antitrust law; 採用する（さい、よう） = to adopt
TRANSLATION:
The economy of capitalism is based on free competition in the market, and many countries adopt antitrust laws to prohibit monopolistic practices.
EXPLANATION:
The text consists of two parts: […は…を…としており、] and […の…を…が…で…されている。]. The first part ends with としており、which is the renyou-form of としておる, which is equal to としている, which again is the stative form of とする. The structure "XはYを原則とする" can be directly translated into "X has Y as its principle". The renyou-form plays a role of the conjunctive "and". The second part is a passive sentence. Its structure is "XがYで採用されている", which is translated into "X is adopted in Y". The passive form of する is される (さ[mizen-form of する]+れる[passive auxiliary]). With ている, the passive auxiliary れる becomes its renyou-form れ, and the stative meaning is added. The subject of this second part 企業の独占を禁じた独占禁止法 has a complex structure. Its structure "Xを禁じたY" is [AdjectivalClause+Noun], and is translated into "Y which prohibits X". The use of the auxiliary た is common in this type of structure. The た means that something has taken place and that the effect of this action has been continuing. It is quite different from the simple past, and similar to the present perfect. In the TRASLATION section above, I used an active voice for the second part.
VOCABULARY:
所得税（しょ、とく、ぜい） = income tax(es); 累進制（るい、しん、せい） = progressive system; 逆進制（ぎゃく、しん、せい） = regressive system; すなわち = in other words; 税率（ぜい、りつ） = tax rate(s); 所得（しょ、とく） = income; 貧しい者（まず；もの） = poor people; 低い（ひく） = low; 助かる（たす） = to be helped; システム = system; 導入する（どう、にゅう） = to introduce; 消費税（しょう、ひ、ぜい） = sales/consumption tax(ex); わずかながら = slightly; 逆進課税（ぎゃく、しん、か、ぜい） = regressive taxation; 導入当時（どう、にゅう、とう、じ） = at the time of its introduction; 議論（ぎ、ろん） = argument(s); 呼び起こす（よ；お） = to cause
TRANSLATION:
The Japanese income taxation system is progressive. In other words, the higher one's income is, the higher his/her income tax rate is. As a result, poor people will be helped with low tax rates. On the other hand, the consumption tax which was introduced in Japan about 10 years ago is slightly regressive. On those days, it caused much public debate.
EXPLANATION:
The verb 採る in the first sentence means "to adopt". The verb ending ている changes the active sense into stative. Note the structure [Adj1 katei]+ば+[Adj1 rentai]+ほど+[Adj2]. It means "the [Adj1]-er, the [Adj2]-er". For example, 多ければ多いほど高い means "the more, the higher". You may want to supplement the subject その制度は before 貧しい者は低い税率で助かるというシステムである in order to understand the structure "AはBというCである", which means "A is the C which is B". For example, the above sentence is translated into "The system is the system where poor people will be helped with low tax rates."