As we usher in the New Year, it’s worth taking a moment to see how this year’s major business themes have played out. While smatterings of growth and dips in unemployment have brought relative stability to Europe and the US, analysts at Nomura foresee policy changes that may reshape global prosperity in the long-term.
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The global financial spotlight is focused squarely on China with its economy and banking system beginning to show signs of weakness. Interest rates hit all-time highs, while the central bank stood by and watched, as Reuters reports.
The People’s Bank of China has engineered a tightening of cash in money markets after seeing interest rates spike to 25 percent or higher for some deals. This was done in order to try to rein in excessive credit growth, especially in the lightly-regulated “shadow banking” sector.
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Welcome back to Business English Pod today’s lesson on discussing the economy.
Listen to the news, the politicians, or your coworkers, and what do you hear them talking about? The economy. It’s up or it’s down. It’s good or it’s bad. Conditions are improving or getting worse. And it’s important to us because as the economy goes, so goes our business and careers.
But what do people mean when they say the economy? Is there only one economy? Well, in this global age, the economy often refers to the world economy. But we also say the economy to talk about a specific country, whether it’s our own or another country we’re doing business with. In this lesson, you’ll hear about a few different economies and you’ll learn some common expressions used to discuss economic conditions.
Before we listen, let’s talk a little about collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. For example, in English we say “go online” to talk about using the Internet. But we can’t say “proceed online” or “travel online,” even though “proceed” and “travel” mean “go.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.
You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. As you listen, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.
We’re going to hear a conversation between David and Gordon, two expats working in Southeast Asia. David has been around for several years and is familiar with the economic situation. Gordon is new to the region and has recently completed a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma.
Listening Questions
1. What does David say the government of Vietnam has done well?
2. What is happening to the labor force in Vietnam?
3. What is one of the problems in Vietnam mentioned by the speakers?
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In this business English vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at some key macroeconomic terms related to consumers and prices. This includes ideas such as the income gap, the cost of living, and the consumer price index (CPI). We will also explore concepts such as inflation and purchasing power, as well as disposable income, household debt, and consumer spending.
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In this business English vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at some key macroeconomic terms, such GDP and GNP. We’ll explore the natural business cycle, which includes periods of expansion, recession and sometimes even depression. We’ll also look at the idea of trade balance between countries, which can be described as either a trade surplus or a trade deficit.
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