Economy Vocabulary
Asset-stripping – the practice of buying a company which is in financial difficulties at a low price and then selling everything that it owns in order to make a profit
Sentence –The businessman bought the company with the intention of asset-stripping it and then selling for a profit
Bailout – an act of giving money to a company, a foreign country, etc. that has very serious financial problems
Sentence –The airline was saved by a government bailout.
Black market – an illegal form of trade in which foreign money, or goods that are difficult to obtain, are bought and sold
Sentence –You could buy anything you needed on the black market.
Boom – sudden increase in trade and economic activity; a period of wealth and success
Sentence –Living standards improved rapidly during the post-war boom.
broker/stockbroker -a person or an organization that buys and sells shares for other people
Sentence –The bonds were sold through a stockbroker.
Budget – the money that is available to a person or an organization and a plan of how it will be spent over a period of time
Sentence –We decorated the house on a tight budget (=without much money to spend).
Capitalism – an economic system in which a country’s businesses and industry are controlled and run for profit by private owners rather than by the government
Sentence –the growth of industrial capitalism in the West
Collapse – a sudden fall in value
Sentence –the collapse of share prices/the dollar/the market
Competition – [uncountable] competition (between/with somebody) (for something) a situation in which people or organizations compete with each other for something that not everyone can have
Sentence –We are in competition with four other companies for the contract.
Competitor – a person or an organization that competes against others, especially in business
Sentence –We produce cheaper goods than our competitors.
Consolidate -[transitive, intransitive] consolidate (something)(specialist) to join things together into one; to be joined into one
Sentence –All the debts have been consolidated.
Corporate – connected with a corporation
Sentence –The corporate identity has been damaged by the latest allegations.
Depreciate – [transitive] depreciate something (business) to reduce the value, as stated in the company’s accounts, of a particular asset over a particular period of time
Sentence –The value of Bitcoin has depreciated in the last year.
Depression – [countable, uncountable] a period when there is little economic activity and many people are poor or without jobs
Sentence –The country was in the grip of an economic depression.
Deregulate – [often passive] deregulate something to free a trade, a business activity, etc. from rules and controls
Sentence –The country has benefitted from the deregulated financial markets.
Dividend -an amount of the profits that a company pays to people who own shares in the company
Sentence –The shareholders in Apple received dividend payments of 75p per share
downtrend/downturn – situation in which business activity or performance decreases or becomes worse over a period of time
Sentence –There was a gradual downtrend in the price of grain.
Entrepreneur – a person who makes money by starting or running businesses, especially when this involves taking financial risks
Sentence –Richard Branson is one of the most successful British entrepreneurs
Equilibrium – a state of balance, especially between opposing forces or influences
Sentence –We have achieved an equilibrium in the economy.
Employment – [uncountable, countable] work, especially when it is done to earn money; the state of being employed
Sentence –Graduates are finding it more and more difficult to find employment.
Fair-trade – involving trade which supports producers in developing countries by paying fair prices and making sure that workers have good working conditions and fair pay.
Sentence –We buy 10% of our bananas from fair-trade sources.
