Inglés para Economía: vocabulario y frases esenciales

"price elasticity of demand"

A measure of how responsive the quantity demanded of a good is to a change in its price

"The study found a price elasticity of demand of −1.3 for airline tickets, indicating consumers are moderately price-sensitive."

"marginal cost"

The additional cost incurred by producing one more unit of a good or service

"The factory manager noted that marginal cost was falling as output expanded, confirming economies of scale."

"opportunity cost"

The value of the next best alternative forgone when making an economic decision

"The opportunity cost of attending graduate school includes not just tuition but also the salary the student gives up."

"consumer surplus"

The difference between the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay and the actual market price paid

"Lower import tariffs increased consumer surplus by making foreign goods available at lower prices."

"market equilibrium"

The state in which the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded, leaving no tendency for price to change

"After the supply shock, the market took three months to return to equilibrium at the new higher price."

"deadweight loss"

The loss of economic efficiency that occurs when the optimal quantity of a good is not produced or consumed

"The monopolist restricted output below the competitive level, generating a significant deadweight loss."

"externality"

A cost or benefit that affects a party who did not choose to incur it, not reflected in market prices

"Carbon emissions represent a negative externality because the cost of pollution is borne by society, not just the producer."

"price ceiling"

A government-imposed maximum price that can legally be charged for a good or service

"Rent controls act as a price ceiling, which economists argue reduces housing supply over the long run."

"gross domestic product"

The total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country in a given period

"Real gross domestic product grew by 2.4 per cent last year, outpacing the OECD average."

"aggregate demand"

The total demand for goods and services in an economy at a given overall price level

"The government stimulus package was designed to boost aggregate demand during the recession."

"business cycle"

The recurring pattern of expansion and contraction in economic activity over time

"Economists study the business cycle to identify leading indicators that predict turning points."

"structural unemployment"

Unemployment caused by a mismatch between the skills workers have and the skills employers demand

"Automation in manufacturing contributed to structural unemployment among workers without digital skills."

"multiplier effect"

The process by which an initial change in spending produces a larger overall change in national income

"The fiscal multiplier effect meant that each dollar of government investment generated roughly 1.5 dollars of GDP growth."

"crowding out"

The reduction in private investment that occurs when government borrowing raises interest rates

"Critics of the spending plan argued it would crowd out private investment by pushing up long-term interest rates."

"output gap"

The difference between an economy's actual output and its potential output at full capacity

"A negative output gap of three per cent suggested the economy was operating well below its productive potential."

"current account balance"

A record of a country's transactions with the rest of the world, including trade in goods, services, and income

"Germany has maintained a current account surplus for over a decade, drawing criticism from trading partners."

"quantitative easing"

A monetary policy tool whereby a central bank purchases financial assets to inject money into the economy

"The central bank launched quantitative easing by buying government bonds worth 750 billion dollars."

"interest rate corridor"

The range between the central bank's lending rate and deposit rate that guides overnight market interest rates

"By narrowing the interest rate corridor, the Fed signalled it wanted less volatility in overnight lending rates."

"inflation targeting"

A monetary policy framework in which the central bank sets an explicit numerical goal for the inflation rate

"Under inflation targeting, the central bank raises rates when CPI persistently exceeds the two per cent target."

"reserve requirement"

The minimum fraction of deposits that commercial banks must hold as reserves rather than lend out

"A reduction in the reserve requirement freed up capital for lending, supporting credit growth."

"forward guidance"

Communication by a central bank about the likely future path of interest rates to influence expectations

"Forward guidance stating that rates would remain low "for at least two years" lowered long-term bond yields."

"yield curve"

A graph showing the relationship between bond yields and their maturities at a given point in time

"An inverted yield curve, where short-term rates exceed long-term rates, has historically predicted recessions."

"velocity of money"

The rate at which money circulates through the economy, measured as GDP divided by the money supply

"Despite rapid monetary expansion, low velocity of money kept inflation subdued during the recovery."

"open market operations"

The buying and selling of government securities by a central bank to control the money supply

"Open market operations remain the primary tool for implementing monetary policy on a day-to-day basis."

"comparative advantage"

The ability of a country to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than another country

"Portugal had a comparative advantage in wine production, leading economists to predict mutual gains from trade with England."

"terms of trade"

The ratio of a country's export prices to its import prices, indicating purchasing power in international trade

"Rising commodity prices improved the terms of trade for resource-exporting nations in the developing world."

"balance of payments"

A statement summarising all economic transactions between residents of one country and the rest of the world

"A persistent balance of payments deficit eventually forced the government to seek IMF assistance."

"non-tariff barrier"

Any measure other than a tariff that restricts or distorts international trade, such as quotas or technical standards

"Stricter labelling requirements were criticised as a non-tariff barrier designed to protect domestic producers."

"trade deficit"

The excess of a country's imports over its exports of goods and services in a given period

"The widening trade deficit raised concerns about the country's reliance on foreign borrowing to fund consumption."

"dumping"

The practice of exporting goods at a price below their production cost or below their domestic market price

"Steel producers filed an anti-dumping complaint, alleging that cheap imports were sold far below cost."

"most favoured nation"

A WTO principle requiring a country to offer the same trade terms to all members that it gives to its best trading partner

"Under the most favoured nation clause, any tariff reduction granted to one WTO member must be extended to all members."

"export subsidy"

A government payment made to domestic producers to encourage the export of goods and services

"Agricultural export subsidies were condemned at the WTO talks as distorting global food markets."

"human development index"

A composite statistic measuring a country's achievement in health, education, and standard of living

"Norway consistently ranks first on the human development index due to its high income, health, and education scores."

"poverty trap"

A self-reinforcing mechanism in which low income prevents the investment needed to escape poverty

"Access to microfinance was promoted as a way to break the poverty trap for rural smallholders."

"total factor productivity"

A measure of economic output not explained by the quantity of labour and capital inputs alone

"Improved total factor productivity, driven by technology adoption, accounted for half of the country's growth."

"Dutch disease"

The negative economic effects on other sectors caused by a large increase in income from natural resource exports

"When oil revenues surged, analysts warned of Dutch disease as the exchange rate appreciated and manufacturing declined."

"import substitution industrialisation"

A development strategy in which a country replaces foreign imports with domestically produced goods

"Several Latin American nations pursued import substitution industrialisation in the mid-twentieth century with mixed results."

"structural adjustment"

Economic reforms required by international lenders, typically including liberalisation, privatisation, and fiscal austerity

"The structural adjustment programme reduced the fiscal deficit but was criticised for cutting social spending."

"remittance"

Money sent by migrant workers in foreign countries back to their families in their home country

"Remittances exceeded foreign direct investment as the largest source of external finance for several developing nations."

"endogenous growth theory"

A model in which long-run economic growth is driven by internal factors such as innovation and human capital investment

"Endogenous growth theory justified government spending on research and education as a driver of sustained prosperity."

"ordinary least squares"

A method for estimating the parameters of a linear regression model by minimising the sum of squared residuals

"The researchers applied ordinary least squares to estimate the effect of education on wages across 20,000 observations."

"instrumental variable"

A variable used in econometric estimation that is correlated with an endogenous explanatory variable but uncorrelated with the error term

"Distance to college was used as an instrumental variable to estimate the causal return to education."

"heteroskedasticity"

A condition in regression analysis in which the variance of the error term is not constant across all observations

"The Breusch–Pagan test detected heteroskedasticity, so the team reported robust standard errors."

"panel data"

A dataset that tracks the same individuals, firms, or countries over multiple time periods

"Using panel data from 30 OECD countries over 25 years, the study controlled for unobserved country-specific effects."

"difference-in-differences"

An econometric technique that estimates a causal effect by comparing changes over time between a treatment group and a control group

"The difference-in-differences estimate showed that the minimum wage increase had no statistically significant effect on employment."

"cointegration"

A long-run equilibrium relationship between two or more non-stationary time series that share a common stochastic trend

"Cointegration tests confirmed that consumption and income moved together in the long run despite short-run divergences."

"counterfactual"

The hypothetical outcome that would have occurred in the absence of a particular treatment or policy intervention

"Estimating the counterfactual — what would have happened without the subsidy — is the central challenge of policy evaluation."

"Gini coefficient"

A statistical measure of income or wealth inequality within a population, ranging from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality)

"The Gini coefficient rose from 0.31 to 0.38 over the decade, indicating a significant increase in income inequality."