Rob
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Rob.

Beth
And I’m Beth.

Rob
In this programme, we’re talking about money – and Beth, as the old saying goes, money makes the world go round!

Beth
You mean it’s very important and lots of things couldn’t happen without it. Well, we all need money – but have you noticed how our money doesn’t seem to buy so much these days?

Rob
Yes, I have Beth. It seems like consumers like us are being hit in the pocket at the moment – and by that, I mean we have less money to spend.

Beth
Now, I’m no economist, but I know this has a lot to do with inflation - the increase in prices of things over time.

Rob
It’s a big problem globally, and Beth my question for you is about inflation. According to one report, what was the annual inflation rate in Venezuela between November 2017 and 2018? Was it:
a)    130%
b)    1,300% or
c)    1,300,000%?

Beth
I’ll say b) 1,300%

Rob
OK. We’ll find out if you’re right later on. But let’s talk more about money and inflation now. Around the world, prices of things are rising more than normal, and more worrying is that prices keep going up.

Beth
Two things in particular are increasing in price – energy, like gas and electricity, and food. These are things we need and depend on. So, what’s causing the rises?

Rob
There seem to be two main reasons – the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which has reduced the supply in things we need. And when things are in short supply – available in limited quantities - prices go up.

Beth
The BBC World Service programme The Real Story discussed this in much more detail. One expert, economist, writer and broadcaster, Linda Yueh, explained how price rises could be around for a while…

Linda Yueh, economist, writer and broadcaster
Even if you take out some of these volatile items like food and energy, the sustained price increases we've had, it is actually getting passed through into how companies price their goods and services. and that's where it gets extremely worrying because that suggests that even if energy prices, food prices, come down, we could have inflation now in the system and I think that for advanced economies is worrying, for developing countries, that's hugely worrying.

Rob
Linda Yueh used some interesting language there. She talked about food and energy being volatile items – something that is volatile is unpredictable and can change suddenly. And that’s what we’ve experienced with food and energy prices.

Beth
Yes, and she said these price increases have been sustained – so, continuing at the same level for a long period of time. But Linda Yueh says that even if energy and food prices eventually come down, companies will pass on the extra costs they have already faced by charging more for their goods and services.

Rob
And this could cause inflation – there’s that word again. Continuing price rises aren’t good for anyone but especially for people in developing economies – countries which have industry that’s less developed and have lower living standards.

Beth
Another possible consequence of inflation is recession – this economic term describes a situation where a country’s production starts going down, people’s incomes go down and unemployment goes up. This all sounds like a very bleak economic outlook. So, what can be done?

Rob
Well, that’s the million-dollar question, and economists are trying to work it out. Speaking on The Real Story programme, economist Vicky Pryce gave an overview of how to control inflation.

Vicky Pryce, economist
One of them, something that is actually most effective, is by slowing down demand. And if you increase interest rates, what you do is you discourage people from borrowing, whether they are individuals or whether they are businesses - and of course the economy starts slowing down.

Rob
So, she says what is most effective – meaning what works well and gets the best results – is slowing down demand. Increasing interest rates can do this because people will borrow less money. Interest rates are fees banks and financial institutions charge you for borrowing money.

Beth
And if we borrow less money, we buy fewer things, which can reduce inflation. I think it makes sense now! And if you were in Venezuela in 2018, you would really want inflation to go down, wouldn’t you?

Rob
Yes. Now, earlier I asked you what one report said the inflation rate was there between November 2017 and 2018.

Beth
And I said a very high 1,300%.

Rob
Well, it was even higher, Beth. According to a study by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, the annual inflation rate reached 1,300,000% in the 12 months to November 2018. This extreme financial situation was known as hyperinflation.

Beth
That’s not good at all. In this programme, we have been talking about inflation – that’s the increase in prices over time.

Rob
Other vocabulary we used included the expression hit in the pocket – which means you have less money to spend.

Beth
Volatile describes something that is unpredictable and can change suddenly.

Rob
Something that is sustained continues at the same level for a long period of time. And something that is effective works well and gets the best results.

Beth
And interest rates are fees banks and financial institutions charge you for borrowing money.

Rob
Well, we hope you’ve found our brief lesson about the economy useful. Thanks for listening. Goodbye for now!

Beth
Bye bye!

羅伯

你好。這裡是 BBC 學習英語的 6 分鐘英語。我是羅伯。

貝絲

我是貝絲。

羅伯

在這個節目中，我們談論的是錢—而貝絲，正如那句老話說的，有錢能使鬼推磨！

貝絲

你是說它非常重要，沒有它很多事情都無法發生。好吧，我們都需要錢—但你有沒有注意到，我們的錢現在似乎買不到那麼多東西？

羅伯

是的，我有發現，貝絲。目前，像我們這樣的消費者，口袋似乎受到重重一擊—我的意思是，我們能花的錢變少了。

貝絲

再者，我不是經濟學家，但我知道這與通貨膨脹有很大關係—隨著時間的推移，東西的價格上漲。

羅伯

這是一個全球性的大問題，而貝絲我要問你的是關於通貨膨脹的問題。根據一份報告，2017 年 11 月至 2018 年，委內瑞拉的年通貨膨脹率是多少？是
a)    130%
b)    1,300% or
c)    1,300,000%?

貝絲

我說 b) 1,300%。

羅伯

好的。我們到後面會知道你是否正確。但我們現在多談談貨幣和通貨膨脹問題。在世界各地，東西的價格都比正常情況下上漲，更令人擔憂的是，價格一直在上漲。

貝絲

有兩樣東西的價格尤其在上升—能源，如天然氣和電力，以及食品。這些都是我們需要和依賴的東西。那麼，是什麼導致了上漲？

羅伯

似乎有兩個主要原因—新冠大流行和烏克蘭戰爭，這減少了我們所需東西的供應。而當東西供不應求時—數量有限—價格就會上漲。

貝絲

BBC 世界服務節目《真實的故事》更詳細地討論了這個問題。身為專家、經濟學家、作家和廣播員的 Linda Yueh 解釋了價格上漲可能會持續一段時間 ……。

Linda Yueh，經濟學家、作家和廣播員

即使你剔除一些像食品和能源這樣的不穩定的項目，我們所經歷的持續的價格上漲，實際上正在逐步影響到各公司如何為他們的商品和服務定價。這就是它變得非常令人擔憂的地方，因為這表示即使能源價格、食品價格下降，我們現在的系統中也可能有通貨膨脹，我認為這對先進經濟體來說是令人擔憂的，而對發展中國家來說，這是極度令人擔憂的。

羅伯

Linda Yueh 用了一些有趣的語言。她談到食品和能源是不穩定的項目—不穩定的東西是不可預測的，同時可能會突然改變。而這正是我們在食品和能源價格方面所經歷的。

貝絲

是的，而且她說這些價格上漲是持續的—所以，在很長一段時間內持續在同一水準上。但是 Linda Yueh 說，即使能源和食品價格最終回落，公司也會通過對其商品和服務收取更多的費用來轉嫁他們已經面臨的額外成本。

羅伯

而這可能導致通貨膨脹—又是這個詞。持續的價格上漲對任何人都沒有好處，但對發展中經濟體的人來說尤其如此—這些國家的工業不發達，生活水準較低。

貝絲

通貨膨脹的另一個可能的後果是經濟衰退—這個經濟術語描述了一個國家的生產開始下降，人們的收入下降，失業率上升的情況。這聽起來都是一個非常暗淡的經濟前景。那麼，可以做什麼呢？

羅伯

嗯，這是個百萬美元的問題，經濟學家正在努力解決這個問題。在《真實故事》節目中，經濟學家 Vicky Pryce 概述了如何控制通貨膨脹。

Vicky Pryce，經濟學家

其中一個，實際上最有效的東西，是通過減緩需求。如果你提高利率，你所做的就是阻止人們借貸，無論他們是個人還是企業—那當然，經濟就開始放緩。

羅伯

所以，她說，最有效的—也就是說，效果好、得到最好結果的—是放慢需求。提高利率可以做到這一點，因為人們會減少借錢。利率是銀行和金融機構對你借錢所收取的費用。

貝絲

而如果我們借的錢少了，我們買的東西就少了，這可以減少通貨膨脹。我認為這很有意義！現在。如果你是 2018 年的委內瑞拉人，你真的希望通脹率下降，不是嗎？

羅伯

是的。好了，早些時候我問你，有一份報告說 2017 年 11 月至 2018 年期間那裡的通貨膨脹率是多少？

貝絲

而我說，非常高的 1,300%。

羅伯

嗯，它甚至更高，貝絲。根據反對派控制的國會的一項研究，在截至 2018 年 11 月的 12 個月裡，年通貨膨脹率達到 1,300,000 %。這種極端的金融狀況被稱為惡性通貨膨脹。

貝絲

這一點都不好。在這個節目中，我們一直在談論通貨膨脹—那是隨著時間推移價格的增加。

羅伯

我們使用的其他詞彙包括口袋受到打擊的說法—這意味著你可以花的錢更少。

貝絲

不穩定的描述的是不可預測的東西，可以突然改變。

羅伯

持續的東西會在很長一段時間內持續在同一水準。而有效的東西能運作良好，獲得最佳效果。

貝絲

而利率是銀行和金融機構對你借錢所收取的費用。

羅伯

好了，我們希望你覺得我們關於經濟的簡短課程很有用。謝謝你的聆聽。先說再見了！

貝絲

再見！