Essential Business and Economic Vocabulary Reference

Economic Indicators and Financial Concepts

• Interest rate: Cost of borrowing.
• Exchange rate: Price of currency.
• Inflation rate: General increase in prices.
• Labour force: Number of people working.
• Tax incentives: Government fiscal benefits.
• Government bureaucracy: Administrative systems.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Total economic output.
• Unemployment rate: Percentage of people without jobs.
• Foreign investment: Capital from overseas.
• Balance of trade: Net difference between imports and exports.
• Equity stake: Ownership interest or venture capital.
• Recession: Economic downturn.
• Shares: Units of ownership in a company.
• Debt: Money owed.
• Stock market: Exchange for trading shares.
• Forecast: To predict future trends.
• Profit margin: The difference between revenue and costs.
• Investment: Allocation of resources for profit.
• Bankruptcy: Legal insolvency.
• Dividend: Distribution of profits to shareholders.
• Pre-tax profit: Earnings before tax deductions.
• Annual turnover: Total sales over a year.

Personal Finance and Banking

• Wage: Weekly payment.
• Salary: Monthly payment.
• Income: Yearly earnings.
• Mortgages: Loans for property.
• Loan: Borrowed money.
• Saving account: Interest-bearing deposit account.
• In the red: Operating at a loss or overdraft.
• Installments: Periodic payments.

Describing Trends and Data

• Upward movement: Soared, rising, rises, increase, rise, gain.
• Downward movement: Falling, decline, plummet, halve.
• Stability: Level off, steady, the same.
• Fluctuation: To vary irregularly.
• Intensity: Sharply, slightly, a little.

Business Idioms and Professional Phrases

• Level playing field: Fair competition.
• In the driving seat: In control.
• Neck and neck: Equal progress.
• Flogging a dead horse: Wasting effort on a lost cause.
• Major player: Important entity.
• Move the goalposts: Changing the rules.
• Keep your eye on the ball: Stay focused.
• Ahead of the game: Leading the competition.
• One-horse race: Uncontested competition.
• On the ropes: In a desperate situation.

Management and Operations

• Planning: Estimate costs, forecast sales, research, collect information, consider options.
• Execution: Arrange, keep to, meet, budget, deadline, report, schedule.
• Customer Service: Swift reply, at your earliest convenience, compensation, extended warranty, faulty goods.
• Trade Policies: Open markets, free ports, deregulation, laissez-faire.
• Protectionism: Barriers, tariffs, customs, quotas, subsidies, dumping, regulations.

Negotiation Stages

1. Preparation
2. Explore others' needs
3. Signal movement
4. Probe proposals
5. Exchange concessions
6. Close the deal

Mathematical Expressions

• Fractions: 1/4 (a quarter), 2/3 (two-thirds), 1/2 (a half), 3/4 (three-quarters).
• Decimals: 16.5 (sixteen point five), 8.38% (eight point three eight percent), 0.195 (zero point one nine five).
• Large Numbers: 380 (three hundred and eighty), 3,560 (three thousand five hundred and sixty).