We're going to talk about the economy. Now, we're not going to get into too much detail.

我們會討論到經濟。 我們不會講得太過詳細

We're not going to get into economic theories, etc. What we're going to look at

我們不會講到經濟理論之類的。 我們會講到的

is some vocabulary that will help you read financial articles and newspapers, or online,

是一些單字，這些能幫助你閱讀金融方面的報章雜誌或網站

or watch financial broadcasts on TV; CNN, Money Matters, etc., things like that.

或看電視上跟金融有關的報導，像是CNN、Money Matters等等。

So,we're going to look at all these words.

那麼，我們來看看這些單字吧

We're going to start with "GDP" because everything somehow relates to "GDP - gross domestic product".

我們首先看到的是「GDP」，不知為何所有的事情好像都跟「GDP」有關，也就是國內生產毛額

What is this? This is the total value, the total monetary value of goods and services produced within a country.

這是什麼？這就是所有東西的價值，所有國內生產之商品及服務的貨幣價值

So everything that the country produces from toilet paper to

所以這個國家生產的所有東西和服務，從衛生紙

airplanes, and services from massage to heart surgery, all the money that's made from these

到飛機，從按摩服務到心臟手術，這些商品和服務所賺取的金錢

goods and services together adds up to the GDP. So, when we're talking about GDP, we're

都屬於GDP。 所以，我們談到GDP的時候

going to refer back to this expression when we're talking about some of these other words.

等一下我們講到其他這些字的時候會再回來講解GDP

So, first, let's look at "fiscal". "Fiscal" basically means anything to do with money,

那麼首先，我們來看「財政的(fiscal)」。 這個字基本上指所有跟錢有關的東西

anything to do with financial matters, especially when we're talking about taxes. Okay?

所有跟金融事務有關的東西，特別是講到稅收的時候。好嗎？

So,when... The most common thing you'll hear is "fiscal year". So when we're talking about

所以，當...你最常聽到的字應該是「會計年度」。 所以我們講到一家公司的「會計年度」的時候

a company's fiscal year, we're talking about it's the beginning of its tax year to the end of its tax year.

我們指的是從稅收年度的年初到年底

In some countries, everybody matches this to January to December; in other

在某些國家，是從一月到十二月；在其他國家

countries, you're allowed... Your fiscal year starts when you start your business, and then

你可以...會計年度始於你開始營業的時間，然後

one year later is the end of your fiscal year. It's easier to match it to the calendar year,

一年之後就是一整個會計年度的結束。 把會計年度跟我們的歷年統一比較方便

but...

但是...

A "quarter". Now, you're going to always hear about prices, and stocks, and values going

一個「季度(quarter)」。 你應該常常聽到價格、股票還有價值

up or down over the last quarter or over the last two quarters. What is a "quarter"?

在上個季度或是過去兩季度上升或下跌。 什麼是「季度」？

It's basically three months. So if you're talking about the first quarter of the year,

一個季度基本上有三個月。 所以如果你講到某年的第一個季度

you're talking about January, February, March. That's your first quarter. Your next three months,

你指的就是一月、二月、三月。 這就是你說的第一季度。 而接下來三個月

second quarter. Four quarters makes one year.

就是第二季度。 一年總共有四個季度

"Currency". I think everybody knows this word, but just in case, this is the money that is

「貨幣(currency)」 我想大家都知道這個字吧，但為了以防萬一，這指的是

used in a country or a region. This is the monetary value that is used for exchanges,

在某個國家或是地區流通的金錢。 這種經濟價值是在交易、

trades, investments, etc. In Canada, we use the Canadian dollar. In the U.S., they use

貿易、投資等等。 在加拿大，我們使用的是加拿大元，在美國使用的則是

the American dollar. Euro in Europe, etc.

用美元，歐洲用歐元。

A "budget". A "budget" or "to budget", it can be a noun or a verb, means to make a plan

「預算(budget)」。 「一次預算」或「編列預算」，它可以當作名詞，也可以當作動詞，意思是

on how to spend a certain amount of money. So, for example, a government has this much

對如何花費某筆數目的錢制定計畫。 所以，舉例來說，政府有這麼多錢

money that they need to spend, or they have a plan that they want to spend this much money.

需要花費，或者他們計畫花這麼多錢

Now, they want to spend a million dollars. I'm being very simple, here; I'm not going

現在，他們要花一百萬元。 我會講得很簡單，我不會用

to get into big numbers. They need to spend a million dollars to provide all the services

太大的數字來講解。 他們需要一百萬元購買他們所須的服務

that they need and to buy all the materials that they need to import, etc.

或者所須進口的材料等等。

If they are running on a deficit, that means that they need to spend more money than they have.

如果他們財政出現赤字，代表他們需要花的錢比他們現有的還多

They have to spend on things to bring in or to run the country, but they don't have.

為了維持國計，他們需要花錢在某些地方，但是他們沒有這筆錢。

So if I need to spend a million dollars but I only make the revenues of the country are only

所以如果我需要花一百萬，但是國家稅收只有九十萬

$900,000, then they will run on $100,000 deficit. Okay?

那他們就會有十萬元的赤字，懂嗎？

"Surplus" is the opposite. "Surplus" is when the government or any company, you don't have

「盈餘」是赤字的相反詞。 「盈餘」指的是政府或公司

to apply this to a government, when you have more money than you need for the budget. So

不一定要用政府當例子，它指的是你有比預算更多的錢。

if I need to spend a million dollars over the next year, but I have a million and a

假設我明年需要花一百萬，但是我有一百五十萬

half, then I have half a million dollar surplus, which is always a good thing.

那我就會有五十萬的盈餘，這肯定是件好事

"Inflation/deflation". "Inflation" is when prices of goods and services go up, but wages

「通貨膨脹/ 緊縮」 「通貨膨脹」是當商品和服務價格上漲，但薪水

stay the same. So, basically, the purchase power of the individual goes down. You have

沒漲的時候。 因此，基本上個人消費力會降低。

the same amount of money, but you can buy fewer things or you can hire fewer people

你擁有一樣多的錢但是你能買的東西變少了，或是你能買到的服務

to do to have services for you. "Deflation" is the opposite. That's when prices go down,

變少了。 「通貨緊縮」與此相反。 它指的是價格下降

and the value of your dollar or your currency goes up. Both situations are not good. A little

而你的錢或是貨幣的價值上升的時候。 兩種情況都不好

bit of each is okay. Too much of each is bad for the economy. People think deflation is

若狀況輕微倒是還可以接受。兩者若太過了便會重創經濟。有人認為通貨緊縮

good because prices go down, but then companies don't produce as much things because they're

是好的，因為價格降低了，但是公司就會因沒賺錢

not making as much money, so unemployment goes up. So, you have to be careful with both

而減少生產，這樣一來失業率就會上升。 所以兩種情況都要小心

of them. Inflation, prices go too high, people can't afford things. Deflation, companies

通貨膨長的時候價格太高，人們沒辦法買東西。 通貨緊縮的時候

don't want to produce.

公司不想生產

"Stagnation". Now, when we look at GDP, we talk about growth or decline. Growth means

「停滯」 我們看GDP的時候都會談到正負成長。 正成長代表GDP上升

that GDP is growing; decline means that GDP is shrinking. Okay? "Stagnation" means that

負成長代表GDP下降，okay？ 「停滯」指的是

there's hardly any movement, up or down. It means everything stays more or less the same.

經濟幾乎沒有動靜，正負成長都沒有。 這代表一切都差不多沒怎麼變

1%, etc. that's still stagnation, if it carries for a long time. A government wants to make

如果持續1%很久，那就是一種停滯。 政府希望確保

sure that the economy is in growth, that the economy grows. If it's stagnant, it means

經濟處於成長狀態，就是經濟成長。 如果經濟停滯

it's not moving, that's also bad for the economy.

表示經濟沒有變動，這對經濟來說是件壞事

Next... Actually, you know what? I'm going to jump here a little bit; I'll come back

接下來...其實我想先跳過來講這邊，我等一下會再回來

to these guys. "Recession". "Recession" is different from "stagnation". "Recession" means

「衰退」 「衰退」跟「停滯」不同

that the economy is in decline. Now, usually, if the economy is in decline for two quarters,

「衰退」指的是經濟負成長。 通常如果有兩個季度經濟都負成長

consecutive quarters, means one quarter after another quarter, then people... The government

而且是連續季度，也就是一季度連著另一季度，那麼人們...政府

or people or economists consider the economy to be in recession. If the recession continues

或人們或經濟學家就認為是經濟衰退。 如果經濟衰退很久

for a long time, maybe a couple of years, some... In some places, it's only one year

也許是幾年，有些...有些地方只需要一年

or even less, then you have a depression, which is a very big decline in the... In the

或是甚至不到一年，就會變成經濟蕭條，那就是經濟、GDP

economy, the GDP.

都呈現非常嚴重的負成長狀態

Next, we're going to talk about "credit". "Credit" is the ability to borrow money. Okay?

下一個我們要講的是「信用」。 「信用」是借錢的能力，okay？

So, for example, you need to buy a car, you can buy a car and pay for it later. Why? Because

假設你要買車，你可以先訂購，之後再付錢。為什麼？

the bank will give you the money to buy the car, and then slowly you pay them back. If

因為銀行會先給你買車的錢，然後你再慢慢還給銀行

they give you $10,000 to buy the car, you have a $10,000 debt. Notice I don't pronounce

假設他們給你一萬元買車，那你就負債一萬元。 注意一下，我念「debt」的時候

the "b": "debt". Okay? "Debt" means owing. You owe money to someone, usually the bank.

「b」不發音，okay？ 「債務」指的是你有欠錢。 你欠某人錢，通常是指銀行

A "credit rating" means how much or how little the banks will give you. Now, of course, there's

「信用額度」指的是銀行願意借給你多少錢。 當然有很多種信用

also credits between credit ratings and credits between countries, between companies, between

像是信用額度之間的、國家之間的、公司之間的

banks and individuals, so this basically tells you how much money you can borrow. If you

還有銀行跟個人之間的。 所以你基本上能從信用額度知道你可以借多少錢

have a very bad credit rating, it means nobody will give you any money; you have bad credit.

如果你信用額度很差，代表沒有人會借你錢，因為你信用差

Next: "bubble". You might hear this word often used, especially when we're talking about

下一個是「泡沫化」。 你可能常聽到這個字，尤其是聊到房地產的時候

houses. We have a housing bubble. What does this mean? It means that the prices of the

我們有房市泡沫化的危機。什麼意思？就是房價

houses, in this particular case, are growing, growing, growing, growing. There's no real

某些時候不斷上漲上漲上漲再上漲

reason that they should be growing. It's not like there's suddenly a huge demand or the

而且完全沒有原因。 沒有突然的大量買房需求

product is so much better, but prices are growing and they're growing quickly for no

也沒有條件特別好的房屋，但是房價就是一直上漲

particular reason, and then suddenly they pop or they burst. So a bubble grows, and

而且不知為何很快，然後突然又大跌或是房市崩潰。 所以泡沫化會導致房價上漲

then it bursts. So, people are always worried when a bubble gets too big or lasts for too

也會導致房市崩潰。 每次泡沫化態嚴重或是持續太久

long that the burst is coming, and then people start panicking, and the economy is affected

人們總是擔心房市會崩潰，所以開始恐慌

very much.

而這對經濟有很大的影響

Lastly, when we're talking like generally about good economy or bad economy, we say:

最近聊到經濟的時候我們都會說：

"boom" or "bust". "Boom", very good, growing. "Bust", bad, shrinking. Okay?

「爆發」或是「崩潰」 「爆發」很好，代表經濟成長。 「崩潰」不好，代表經濟衰退，okay？

"Boom", up; "bust", down.

「爆發」代表經濟成長；「崩潰」代表經濟衰退

So, these are very general words that you need to know. Again, you're not going to go

那麼這些就是你需要知道的常用單字。 我再強調一次，學會這些字

get your MBA with these words. Okay? But, you can read articles, you can watch programs

不代表你能考到企管碩士學位，okay？ 但是你可以看文章或是經濟相關的節目

about financial matters and get a little bit of better understanding. And the more of these

現在你會發現這些更好懂了。 而且你學越多相關單字

words you learn, the easier it will be to study business, economics, commerce, etc.

就更容易學習商業、經濟、企業之類的相關科目

If you have any questions, please go to www.engvid.com,

如果你有任何問題，請到www.engvid.com

and in the comments section, you can ask about these words.

你可以在評論區寫下你的問題

There's also a quiz that you can try out to test your knowledge.

你還可以做一下我們的小測驗來自我檢測學習狀況

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel,

不要忘記訂閱我的YouTube頻道

and see you again soon. Bye-bye.

我們下次見，掰掰