Vocabulary summary: business & economics (part 1)

set up a business: to start/establish a company

go into partnership with

make a loss

make a profit

to break even: to complete a piece of business, etc. without either losing money
or making a profit

economic recession

a deep/severe recession

suffer/experience a recession

slide/slip into recession

plunge into recession

be hit by a recession
business goes under: if a business goes under, it has to stop operating because of
financial problems

business would fold/fold up: if an organization folds, it closes because it does not
have enough money to continue

go bankrupt/go broke/go out of business

win/get a contract

stiff/fierce/intense competition

take on staff

create jobs/employment

sale figures

annual turnover of

turnover: the total amount of goods or services sold by a company during a

particular period of time

turnover: the rate at which people leave an organization and are replaced by
others
revenue

annual revenue

carry out/conduct market research

launch a product

after-sale service

run a business

float the company

to float: to sell shares in a company or business to the public for the first time

IPO: (initial public offering) the first time that stock in a company is available for
the public to buy on the stock market

go public: to apply to a stock exchange to become a public limited company.

cease trading

cut-throat competition: =very strong competition

stiff//tough/fierce/intense/cut-throat competition (=strong competition)

go out of business = go bankrupt = go broke = go bust

go out of business: =stop doing business because of financial problem

business is booming

a rival company

strike a deal: agree to do something for someone if they do something for you

balance the budget: if a government balances the budget, they make the amount
of money that they spend equal to the amount of money available

put in a bid

bid: offer to pay a particular price for something, especially at an auction

sustainable development

incur debts

repay/settle/pay off debts

service your debts: pay the interest on a debt, but not pay it back

run up debts = amass debts: borrow more and more money

write off/cancel debts: say officially that it does not have to be paid)

be burdened with/saddled with debts

debt burden

ease the debt burden

alleviate/relieve debt

debt relief

debtor country

incur debt

free trade agreement

trade war
impose/lift/ease/enforce sanction on

impose/lift/ease embargo on

monetary union

single currency

war-torn economy

ailing/weak economy

booming economy

devaluation: to reduce the value of one country’s money when it is exchanged for
another country’s money

go into/slide/slip into/plunge into recession

by hit by a recession

experience/suffer recession

emerge from/come out of recession

slump in prices

boost the economy

jobs market

be out of work/unemployed/jobless

disposable income: the amount of money you have left to spend after you have
paid your taxes, bills etc

retail sales

consumer spending

consumer borrowing

property/housing market

real estate (AE)

house price
mortgage: legal arrangement by which you borrow money from a bank or similar
organization in order to buy a house, and pay back the money over a period of
years

pay off/repay mortgage

take out a mortgage: borrow money to buy a house

rising/soaring/spiraling inflation

curb/control inflation

hyperinflation: a very fast rise in prices that seriously damages a country’s

economy

deflation: a reduction in the amount of money in a country’s economy, so that

prices fall or stop rising

financial market

stock market

trade balance

trade surplus
trade deficit

trade gap

exchange rate: the value of the money of one country compared to the money of
another country

foreign/national/single currency

a hard/strong currency

weak currency

stable currency

devalue the currency: reduce the value of a country’s money in relation to other
currencies

change/convert currency: change money from one currency to another

government spending

budget deficit/surplus

economic growth
recover from a trough

a trough of # a peak of

reach a trough/bottom out

the economy shrinks

economic slowdown/contraction

business cycle

the economy is booming

the risks or signs of overheating

economic stability

a soft landing: if the economy of a country has a soft landing, it does not
experience bad effects after an attempt to control increases in the cost of living

go into recession

severe recession
recession: a difficult time when there is less trade, business activity etc in a
country than usual

depression: a long period during which there is very little business activity and a
lot of people do not have jobs

the Great Depression

slump: a sudden decrease in prices, sales, profits etc

boom and bust cycle

go from boom to bust =change from doing very well economically to doing very
badly

industrialized countries

advanced economies

high-income countries

the first world countries

developed countries
developing countries

less-developed countries (LDCs)

industrialization

newly industrialized countries (NICs)

middle-income countries

fast-growing countries

the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China, considered to be countries
whose economies are developing quickly

income per head = income per capita

rural economy

The Third World

the North and South divide

GDP per caipta

economic output

high living standard

GNI = Gross National Income

GNP vs. GDP

globalization

the factors that are driving globalization

free trade movement of capital

trade liberalization

free trade

shipping costs

shipping: the delivery of goods, especially by ship

containerization
credit crunch: a time when borrowing money becomes difficult because banks
reduce the amount they lend and charge high interest rates

tariffs

trade protectionism

trade barrier

have financial problems

high finance: financial activities involving very large amounts of money

economic: economic process, activity etc produces enough profit for it to

continue SYN profitable OPP uneconomic

uneconomic: not making enough money or profit

economic vs. economical

the balance of payment

trade balance
heavy industry

light industry

manufacturing industry

service industry

high-technology/low-technology

cutting-edge technology/conventional technology

privatization/nationalization

public-private partnership

receive a huge subsidy from the government

trade/agriculture subsidies

farming is heavily subsidized (=subsidized a lot) by the government

heavily subsidized agricultural exports

inward investment

public/private investment

to be on piecework

piecework: work for which you are paid according to the number of things you
produce rather than the number of hours that you spend working

work on zero hour contract

cost-cutting exercise

relocate and switch production

Vocabulary summary: business & economics part 2

international/foreign/overseas aid

humanitarian/relief aid

aid agency

provide/send aid

get/receive aid

qualify for aid/be eligible for aid

extreme situations: war, natural disasters - earthquake, floods, epidemics,

widespread diseases, famine

crop failure

emergency/ humanitarian/disaster relief

medical/economic/military/technical assistance

NGO: non-governmental organization) an organization which helps people,

protects the environment etc and which is not run by a government
development projects

intermediate technology (equipment and machinery suited to local conditions

that local people can operate and maintain)

improve infrastructure

provide seed money for small business

seed money: the money you have available to start a new business

viable: a viable idea, plan, or method can work successfully

ODA: official development assistance

donor countries

recipient (countries)

pressure group

tied aid (require the recipients to use the money to purchase equipment)

raise capital: collect money that you can use to do a particular job or help people
annual turnover of

make a pre-tax profit

pay interest on our loan

take out a loan (=borrow money)

most home buyers take out a loan

repay/pay off/pay back a loan (=give back the money you borrowed, usually over
a period of time)

secure a loan (on something) (=agree to give the lender something if you do not
pay back the loan on time)
the loan was secured on his home

set up/start up business

go into business (=start working in business)

a lot of university graduates want to go into business

take a risk

business fails
poor quality services/goods

poor market research

overambitious and over-optimistic

poor knowledge of competitor

poor control over suppliers

poor management of stock

run the business

poor governance

business takeover

takeover: when one company takes control of another by buying more than half
its shares
Thornbury has announced a takeover bid of a regional TV company.

imminent: an event that is imminent, especially an unpleasant one, will happen

very soon
imminent danger/threat/death/disaster etc

under the leadership of

corporate finance/profit/culture/governance/sector/client/customer/greed

mount: organize and begin sth

mount a challenge/campaign

bid: an offer to pay a particular price for sth

put in a bid

place a bid

a takeover bid: an offer to buy another company

staff are afraid that the takeover bid will threaten some of their jobs.

shareholder = stockholder

strike a deal: reach/strike a deal (=agree a deal after a lot of discussions)

the US and North Korea reached a deal about North Korea's nuclear development
program.
set sth off: start a process or series of events

new round of mergers and acquisitions

merger vs. acquisition vs. takeover

merger: the joining together of two or more companies or organizations to form

one larger one

produce (noun): food or other things that have been grown or produced on a
farm to be sold

produce vs. product

product: something that is grown or made in a factory in large quantities, usually

in order to be sold

commodity: a product that is bought and sold

merchandise: goods that are being sold

goods: things that are produced in order to be sold

electrical/industrial/agricultural etc goods

manufactured products/goods
agricultural produce/products

workshop: a meeting at which people try to improve their skills by discussing their
experiences and doing practical exercises

a craft industry

craft: a job or activity in which you make things with your hands, and that you
usually need skill to do

labor-intensive

capital -intensive products/industry

assembly line: a system for making things in a factory in which the products move
past a line of workers who each make or check one part

production line

manufacturing plant

churn out: to produce large quantities of something, especially without caring

about quality:
she’s been churning out novels for 20 years.
industrial robots

cost effective: bringing the best possible profits or advantages for the lowest
possible costs
cost-effective way of doing something

CAD/CAM system of computer-assisted (or computer-aided) design and

manufacturing

CAD: (computer-aided design) the use of computers to design industrial products

output: the amount of goods or work produced by a person, machine, factory etc

productivity: the rate at which goods are produced, and the amount produced,
especially in relation to the work, time, and money needed to produce them

increase/improve/raise productivity

when there is high output per employee, productivity is high

capacity: the amount of something that a factory, company, machine etc can
produce or deal with

working at full capacity

overcapacity/excess capacity/spare capacity/surplus capacity

overproduction

surplus or glut of

glut: supply of something, especially a product or crop, that is more than is

needed

glut of # shortage of
a glut of oil on the world market

a shortage of

trade surplus

jump to record level

fuel prices set to skyrocket

skyrocket: if a price or an amount skyrockets, it greatly increases very quickly

unemployment leaps to ten-year high

leap: to increase quickly and by a large amount

soar: to increase quickly to a high level

surge: suddenly increase SYN shoot up

oil prices surged

1000 jobs axed

axe: to suddenly dismiss someone from their job

there are plans to axe 2,600 staff.

the central bank cuts interest rates

government slashes income tax to 10%

slash: greatly reduce an amount, price etc, used especially in newspapers and
advertising

slash = cut

dive: if numbers, prices etc dive, they suddenly become much lower than before

the dollar dived against the yen in Tokyo today.

level off/level out: to stop going up or down and continue at the same height
after climbing steeply, the path levelled off.

remain steady/stable

reach a peak

peak at

reach a trough

bottom out: if a situation, price etc bottoms out, it stops getting worse or lower,
usually before improving again → level off/out

there are signs that the recession has bottomed out.

stagnation

economic stagnation

stagnate: to stop developing or making progress

growth is expected to stagnate next year.

stagflation (growth is slow and prices are increasing fast)

stagflation: an economic situation in which there is inflation (=a continuing rise in
prices) but many people do not have jobs and businesses are not doing well

recession

contraction/slowdown/downturn

depression

slump: a sudden decrease in prices, sales, profits etc

slump in
a slump in car sales

boom and bust

go bust: a business that goes bust cannot continue operating

equity: shares in a company from which the owner of the shares receives some of
the company’s profits rather than a fixed regular payment

underpin

corporate profit
debt burden

yields (noun): the amount of profits, crops etc that something produces

the average milk yield per cow has doubled

high/low yield

shareholders are expecting a higher yield this year.

the underlying outlook

credit bubble

buy/get something on credit

they bought all their furniture on credit.

credit: an arrangement with a shop, bank etc that allows you to buy something
and pay for it later

on credit

most new cars are bought on credit.

credit crunch/squeeze (=a situation in which people are not allowed as much
credit as before)

due to a credit squeeze, interest rates rose

bank lending will dry up

a surge in

trigger selling

put market under pressure

retailer

distributor

finance company

affiliate: a company, organization etc that is connected with or controlled by a

larger one

Volvo’s Japanese affiliate, Mitsubishi

affiliated company
subsidiary: a company that is owned or controlled by another larger company

dividend: a part of a company’s profit that is divided among the people with
shares in the company

go into administration/liquidation/receivership

official receiver

accountancy/accounting

budget

budgetary constraint

cash flow: the movement of money coming into a business as income and going
out as wages, materials etc

We expect a rise in both our production and our cash flow.

The builder is unable to pay due to cash flow problems.

venture capital: money lent to someone so that they can start a new business

economies of scale
balance of payment

bubble

economic/financial bubble

speculative bubble

real estate/housing/property bubble

mortgage bubble

mortgage: a legal arrangement by which you borrow money from a bank or

similar organization in order to buy a house, and pay back the money over a
period of years

take out a mortgage (=borrow money to buy a house)

We took out a 25-year mortgage.

pay/repay a mortgage
If I lose my job, we won't be able to pay the mortgage.

pay off a mortgage (=finish paying all the money you owe)
They paid off their mortgage five years early.
bubble bursts

price crashes

buy at the top of the market

credit crunch

banking crisis

sub-prime: a subprime loan is an amount of money that is lent to someone who

may not be able to pay it back, usually at a higher than normal rate of interest
subprime mortgages (=loans to buy a home) are granted to individuals who would
not qualify for a conventional mortgage.

NINJA: no income, no job or assets

repackage

sell on these mortgages in the form of new securities

high-risk mortgage

default on: to fail to pay money that you owe at the right time
toxic/worthless assets

toxic debt/loan/asset money that has been lent to someone that is unlikely to be
paid back or bring the lender any profit

light-touch regulation

rating agencies

underestimate risks

deleverage

leverage: to make money available to someone in order to invest or to buy

something such as a company:
the use of public funds to leverage private investment

rescue

real economy

full-blown crisis

economic crisis
deflation

stimulus packages

lower taxes

reduce interest rates

print money

galloping inflation

galloping: increasing or developing very quickly

galloping inflation/consumption etc

galloping inflation of 20 to 30%

stagflation

dismantle/abolish trade barriers

free trade areas/blocs

bloc: large group of people or countries with the same political aims, working
together
the former Soviet bloc

impose tariff

tariff: a tax on goods coming into a country or going out of a country

quota: an official limit on the number or amount of something that is allowed in a

particular period

quota on
the government has imposed quotas on the export of timber.

impose/introduce a quota (=officially start it)

in 1993 the European Union imposed quotas on banana imports

exceed a quota
the fishermen were accused of exceeding their quotas

resolve trade disputes

dump: get rid of goods by selling them in a foreign country at a much lower price
engage in unfair trade practices

protectionism

free trade

repatriate production to home countries

commodity/goods/merchandise

Fairtrade mark

fair trade: the activity of making, buying, and selling goods in a way that is morally
right, for example by making sure that international labour laws are obeyed, that
the environment has not been damaged by making the goods, and that the
people who grow or make a product have been paid a fair price for it

smallholder

catastrophically low

co-operatives: business or organization owned equally by all the people working

there SYN co-op

middlemen/wholesalers
middleman: someone who buys things in order to sell them to someone else, or
who helps to arrange business deals for other people

overproduction
 recovery pick up/ prosperity

peak

trough

shrink expansion

booms

overheating
soft landing

economic stability
recession

the boom
 economics
economic
uneconomic
economical
uneconomical
finance
high finance
financial

growth rate
out of work
labor shortages
trade balance exports
trade gap
trade deficit widen
 the
trade
trariffs

open up

protectionism
repatriate
quotas
 G
T H I R D WO R L D
O I
S T A ND A R D S S P P
S T R U RA L
G N R O O
I ND U S T R I A L I Z E D S OU T H
D T B U P I
L N I U C E G
E C O N OM I C O U T P U T R E
S R N N I I R
S T C A O WE S T S
G H O L N Y
N M
MI DDL E

containerization
telecommunications
trade liberalization
free movement
tariffs of capital
interdependence
 sustainable
pursuing following
taken
encouraging
deep
recovered
achieve
allocate
access

burden repay
debtor countries
debt burden
ease/ cancel

slum
devalue
boost

Trade dispute
trade war
impose/ lift
development grants
war torn economy
ailing economy
debt incurrence

monetary union
ailing economy
trade war
trade
dispute
war torn economy
imposed/ lifted
development grant
debt incurrence
 loss
annual
before inflation
capital
production

rate
tax profit
profit
inflation turnover
production
invest
 the business up
of business
suppliers
underpaid them
overcharged them
percentage

research
goods
competitors
suppliers
ambitious optimistic
running the business
 debt burden

burst conflicting
underlying
contradictory

investors debt burden

underpin contradictory advice
corporate invest equities
equities bubble burst
yield under pressure
 produced
manufacture manufacture
producer manufacturing

producer manufacturer
provider
producer produced

provider

5
2
1
3
7
6
4
8
 D E P RE S S I O N
E L E
P E A Kx S C U G
T E M S A
A S P T T
S G S A I
T F I G V
L E V EL SO U T N E
A A N A
D T B T
Y I O I
B O T T O M SO U T
N M N
 service industries
manufacturing industries
high-technology
low-technology
cutting-edge technology / conventional technology
nationalisation / privatisation

heavy industries / light

industries
public-private partnerships
subsidy
inward investment
on piecework
sweatshops relocation/ switch
production
retraining/ reskilling
multinationals
cost-cutting exercise
child labour zero hours
contract

industrial piracy

industrial espionage
copyright infringement
money laundering
black market
 demand for

loss

net

lending

credit

retail

private

state-owned
industries
unskilled labourers

take on

white-collar
 exports

recession
employees

expenditure

shop floor

interest rates

secondary industries

GNP

output
 primary industry

automation

service industries

balance of payments

deficit

monopoly

nationalised industries

unemployment

taxation

key industry

inflation
 income tax

VAT

salary

interest

borrowing

lay off

unemployment inflation

export

secondary industries

Blue-collar primary industry

salary
management

state-owned industries
Retail
wholesale

revenue

key

loss

automation
 expenditure

borrow

refund

bankrupt

balance

in the black

receipt

loss

exorbitant

invest
 salary

priceless

withdraw

overcharged

frugal

check

debit

saving and loan association

mortgage

borrow

loan