Key Economic Concepts and Chinese Vocabulary

Posted on May 20, 2025 in Economy

Economics Fundamentals

Production and Growth

• Productivity

  Refers to the amount of goods and services produced for each hour of a worker’s time.

• Rule of 70

  A rule stating that if a variable grows at a rate of x percent per year, that variable will double in approximately 70/x years. For example, a growth rate of 7% would see income per person doubling in 10 years (70 divided by 7), compared to 54 years for a 1.3% growth (70 divided by 1.3 is approximately 53.8).

• Factors of Production

  1. Physical Capital
  2. Human Capital
  3. Natural Resources
  4. Technological Knowledge

• Diminishing Returns

  The property whereby the benefit from an extra unit of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases. When the stock of capital rises, the extra output produced from an additional unit of capital falls.

• The Catch-Up Effect

  Refers to the property whereby countries that start off poor tend to grow more rapidly than countries that start off rich.

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

  A capital investment that is owned and operated by a foreign entity.

• Foreign Portfolio Investment

  An investment financed with foreign money but operated by domestic residents.

• Brain Drain

  The emigration of highly educated people to rich countries.

• Property Rights

  Refer to the ability of people to exercise authority over the resources they own.

• Inward-Oriented Trade Policies

  Policies that avoid interaction with other countries.

• Outward-Oriented Trade Policies

  Policies that encourage interaction with other countries.

Saving, Investment, Financial System

• Financial System

  Made up of financial institutions that coordinate the actions of savers and borrowers.

• Financial Markets

  Institutions through which savers can directly provide funds to borrowers (e.g., stock market, bond market).

• Financial Intermediaries

  Financial institutions through which savers can indirectly provide funds to borrowers (e.g., banks).

• Bond

  A certificate of indebtedness that specifies the obligations of the borrower to the holder of the bond.

• Stock

  Represents a claim to partial ownership in a firm and, therefore, a claim to the profits that the firm makes.

• Investment Fund

  An institution that sells shares to the public and uses the proceeds to buy a portfolio of stocks and bonds.

• Other Financial Institutions

  Pension funds, insurance companies, pawnbrokers, credit unions, loan sharks.

• Credit Default Swaps

  A means by which a bondholder can insure against the risk of default.

• Subprime Market

  Lending to individuals with high credit risks.

• National Saving

  The total income in the economy that remains after paying for consumption and government purchases.

• Private Saving

  The amount of income that households have left after paying their taxes and paying for consumption.

• Public Saving

  Tax revenue that the government has left after paying for its spending. If Tax Revenue (T) > Government Spending (G), there is a budget surplus.

Monetary System

• Bartering

  The exchange of one good for another.

• Money

  The set of assets in an economy that people regularly use to buy goods and services from other people.

• Functions of Money

  1. Medium of Exchange
  2. Unit of Account
  3. Store of Value

• Liquidity

  The ease with which an asset can be converted into the economy’s medium of exchange.

• Commodity Money

  Takes the form of a commodity with intrinsic value.

• Fiat Money

  Money used because of government decree.

• Currency

  The paper bills and coins in the hands of the public.

• Demand Deposits

  Balances in bank accounts that depositors can access on demand by writing a cheque or using a debit card.

• Central Bank

  An institution designed to oversee the banking system and regulate the quantity of money in the economy.

• Money Supply

  The quantity of money available in the economy.

• Monetary Policy

  The set of actions taken by the central bank in order to affect the money supply.

• European Central Bank (ECB)

  The central bank for the Eurozone (countries using the Euro).

• Eurosystem

  Made up of the ECB plus the national central banks of the Eurozone countries.

• Reserves

  Deposits that banks have received but have not loaned out.

• Fractional-Reserve Banking

  A banking system in which banks hold only a fraction of deposits as reserves and lend out the rest.

• Reserve Ratio

  The fraction of deposits that banks hold as reserves.

• Central Bank Tools

  1. Open-Market Operations
  2. Changing the Refinancing Rate (Discount Rate)
  3. Changing the Reserve Requirement

Basic Chinese Vocabulary

Chinese Vocabulary – Unit 6

• friend (péngyou)
• girl (nǚ)
• boy (nán)
• handsome (shuài)
• beautiful (piàoliang)
• how is something or somebody? (zěnmeyàng)
• your fitness coach (nǐde jiànshēn jiàoliàn)
• how is his girlfriend? (tāde nǚpéngyou zěnmeyàng?)
• his girlfriend is very beautiful (tāde nǚpéngyou hěn piàoliang)
• pretty good (bùcuò)
• foreign country (wàiguó)
• foreigner (wàiguó rén)
• he is a foreigner (tā shì yī ge wàiguó rén)
• or (háishì)
• height (gèzi)
• tall or high (gāo)
• about or approximately (zuǒyòu)
• to look for (zhǎo)
• meter (mǐ)
• style (yàng)
• this style (zhèyàng)
• how many, how much (duō)
• how tall is he? (tā duō gāo?)
• he is 180 cm tall (tā yī mǐ bā líng)
• miss (xiǎojiě)
• tired (lèi)
• tomorrow (míngtiān)
• to have a rest (xiūxi)
• to want (yào)
• too (tài)
• too big (tài dà)
• too tired (tài lèi)
• fat (pàng)
• weight (tǐzhòng)
• kilogram (gōngjīn)
• passable, not bad (hái kěyǐ)
• what’s your weight? (nǐ duō zhòng?)
• how tall are you? (nǐ duō gāo?)
• at that time (nàshí)
• maternal grandfather (wàigōng)
• calligraphy (shūfǎ) – *Corrected from shui*
• character (hànzì) – *Corrected from hàn*
• roof (wūding) – *Corrected from baogai*

Chinese Vocabulary – Unit 7

• to live at (zhù zài) – *Added zài*
• residential district (xiǎoqū)
• school (xuéxiào)
• to have (yǒu)
• aerobic exercise (jiànměicāo)
• competition (bǐsài)
• to participate (cānjiā)
• to act as, to serve as (dāng)
• to go to (qù)
• residence, dormitory (sùshè)
• number (hào)
• building (lóu)
• floor (céng)
• room (fángjiān)
• telephone (diànhuà)
• mobile phone (shǒujī)
• to see (jiàn)
• your phone number is how much? (nǐ de diànhuà shì duōshao?) – *Corrected dushao*
• where do you live? (nǐ zhù zài nǎr?) – *Corrected nar*
• hello (on phone) (wèi)
• home or family (jiā)
• today (jīntiān)
• street or road (lù)
• banquet (yànhuì)
• restaurant (fàndiàn)
• to pick up somebody (jiē)
• to wait (děng)
• a moment (yīhuǐr)
• please wait a moment (qǐng děng yīhuǐr)
• our school is on No. 15 Dongcheng Road (wǒmen xuéxiào zài Dōngchéng Lù shíwǔ hào) – *Corrected capitalization*
• on the right (zài… yòubiān)
• on the left (zài… zuǒbiān)
• on, above (zài… shàngbiān) – *Corrected zai-*
• under, below (zài… xiàbiān)
• in front of (zài… qiánbiān)
• behind (zài… hòubiān)
• in the middle (zài… zhōngjiān)
• inside of (zài… lǐbiān)
• second (dì’èr)
• ordinary numbers (dì + number)
• hospital (yīyuàn)
• road (lù)
• from (lí)
• here (zhèr)
• far (yuǎn)
• you know (zhīdào)
• east (dōngbiān)
• you’re welcome (bié kèqì) – *Corrected bié kè qì*

Chinese Vocabulary – Tema 8

• family home (jiā)
• please come to my home (qǐng lái wǒ jiā)
• where is your home? (nǐ jiā zài nǎr?) – *Corrected nar*
• my home is on Tramontana Road (wǒ jiā zài Tramontana Lù) – *Assumed Tramontana is a proper noun*
• to miss somebody (xiǎng)
• I miss my grandma (wǒ xiǎng wǒde wàipó) – *Corrected waipo*
• busy (máng)
• extremely (fēicháng) – *Corrected feichang*
• younger sister (mèimei)
• elder sister (jiějiě)
• and (hé)
• family members (measure word for family members) (kǒu)
• how many family members? (nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) – *Corrected nijia yopu*
• my family has 4 members (wǒ jiā yǒu sì kǒu rén)
• lawyer (lǜshī) – *Corrected lùshi*
• often (chángcháng) – *Corrected changchan*
• more (hái)
• to hope (xīwàng)
• bank (yínháng)
• but (dàn or kěshì) – *Corrected keshì*
• doctor (dàifu)
• elder brother (gēge) – *Corrected gege*
• younger brother (dìdi)
• only (zhǐ) – *Corrected zhi*
• child (háizi)
• twins (shuāngbāotāi) – *Corrected shuangbaotai*
• maternal grandfather (wàigōng)
• at the moment (nàshí)

Basic Chinese Pronouns and Numbers

• wǒ – I, me
• nǐ – you
• tā – he, him / she, her / it
• wǒmen – we, us
• nǐmen – you (plural)
• tāmen – they, them

Numbers:

• 1 – yī
• 2 – èr
• 3 – sān
• 4 – sì
• 5 – wǔ
• 6 – liù
• 7 – qī
• 8 – bā
• 9 – jiǔ
• 10 – shí
• 11 – shíyī
• 20 – èrshí
• 30 – sānshí
• 100 – yī bǎi