English for Business Studies

Eo ơi bác FJX này giỏi TA thế nhỉ.Bác có thế giúp em được không Bác.

Giúp gì ạ? Hix, tớ dạo này lo cái dzụ off, mí lại ham chơi bên mấy chỗ kia quá, quên mất thằng con này của tớ. Để khuya nay rảnh tớ lên đánh bài Banking post tiếp

I''m not so sure whether this is appropriate here but I''m raising the issue anyway.
I''m undertaking a Macroeconomic course. Macroeconomic deals with economic problems at a general grand level. The main problems are addressed as: Growth, Unemployment, Inflation, and Balance of Payments and Exchange Rate.
In this very first post on economic of mine Inflation is to be discussed (hopefully) as I''m mostly concerned this problem. Just give your opinions on Inflation, anything!
You may also want to bring up other issues regarding Macroeconomic as well It''ll be my pleasure to response

Do you study it in English? Well, there''s a pinned topic about Macro Economics in box "Diễn đàn kinh tế" and you may take a look there. However, if you want to, I will open a new thread: ''Macro Economics'' with the summarized contents, huh?

FJX: Yes I''m studying Macroeconomic in English. Thank you for the idea to visit the Business box but what I really want to do here is to share and discuss not the whole "theory thing". I don''t need more theories (they are all the same). I need discussion from members who are interested in Macroecnomic in general and the matter I raised in specific.
No, I don''t think you need to open another topic on Macroeconomic or Economic. This topic of yours is for Business studies so it should include all things related to Business like economic, accounting, management, finance, organization management and behaivor...

Banking
1. Personal banking
a. Vocabulary
-cash card: a plastic card issued to bank customers for use in cash dispensers
-cash dispenser: a computerized machine that allows bank customers to withdraw money, check their balance, and so on
-cre*** card: a card which guarantees payment for goods and services purchased by the cardholder, who pays back the bank or finance company at a later date
-home banking: doing banking transactions by telephone or from onê?Ts own personal computer, linked to the bank via a network
-loan: a fixed sum of money on which interest is paid, lent for a fixed period, and usually for a specific purpose
mortgage: a loan, usually to buy property, which serves at a security for the loan
-overdraft: an arrangement by which a customer can withdraw more from a bank account than has been deposited in it, up to an agreed limit; interest on the debt is calculated daily
standing order: an instruction to a bank to pay fixed sums of money to certain people or organizations at stated times
-current account (GB) or checking account (US): one that generally pays little or no interest, but allows the holder to withdraw his or her cash without any restrictions
-deposit account (GB) or time or notice account (US): one that pays interest, but usually cannot be used for paying cheques (GB)/ checks (US), and on which notice is often required to withdraw money
b. Discussion
-Which of the banking facilities listed above do you use?
-What other services do commercial banks offer in your country?
-What changes have there been in personal banking recently?
-What further changes do you foresee in the future?
2. The banking industry
a. Reading
Types of bank
Commercial banking
Commercial or retail banks are businesses that trade in money. They receive and hold deposits, pay money according to customers?T instructions, lend money, offer investment advice, exchange foreign currencies, and so on. They make a profit from the difference (Known as a spread of a margin) between the interest rates they pay to lenders or depositors and those they charge to borrowers. Banks also create cre***, because the money they lend, from their deposits, is generally spent (either on goods or services, or to settle debts), and in this way transferred to another bank account ?" often by way of a bank transfer or a cheque (check) rather than the use of notes or coins ?" from where it can be lent to another borrowers, and so on. When lending money, bankers have to find a balance between yield and risk, and between liqui***y and different maturities.
Investment banking
Merchant banks in Britain raise funds for industry on the various financial markets, finance international trade, issue and underwrite securities, deal with takeovers and mergers, and issue government bonds. They also generally offer stockbroking and portfolio management service to rich corporate and individual clients. Investment banks in the USA are similar, but they can only act as intermediates offering advisory services, and do not offer loans themselves. Investment banks make their profits from the fees and commissions they charge for their services.
Universal banking
In the USA, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1934 enforced a strict separation between commercial banks and investment banks or stockbroking firms. Yet the distinction between commercial and investment banking has become less clear in recent years. Deregulation in the USA and Britain is leading to the creation of "financial supermarkets": conglomerates combining the services previously offered by banks, stockbrokers, insurance companies, and so on. In some European countries (notably Germany, Austria and Switzerland) there have always been universal banks combining deposit and loan banking with share and bond dealing and investment services.
Interest rates
A country''s minimum interest rate is usually fixed by the central bank. This is the discount rate, at which the central bank makes secured loans to commercial banks. Banks lend to blue chip borrowers (very safe large companies) at the base rate of the prime rate; all other borrowers pay more, depending on their cre*** standing (or cre*** rating, or cre***worthiness): the lender''s estimation of their present and future solvency. Borrowers can usually get a lower interest rate if the loan is secured or guaranteed by some kind of asset, known as collateral.
Eurocurrency rates
In most financial centres, there are also branches of lots of foreign banks, largely doing Eurocurrency business. A Eurocurrency is any currency held outside its country of origin. The first significant Eurocurrency market was for US dollars in Europe, but the name is now used for foreign currencies held anywhere in the world (e.g yen in the US, DM in Japan). Since the US$ is the world''s most important trading currency - and because the US has for many years had a huge trade deficit - there is a market of many billions of Eurodollars, including the oil-exporting countries'' ''petrodollars''. Although a central bank can determine the minimum lending rate for its national currency it has no control over foreign currencies. Furthermore, banks are not obliged to deposit any of their Eurocurrency assets at 0% interest with the central bank, which means that they can usually offer better rates to borrowers and depositors than in the home country.
Summary:
Commercial banks hold customers'' deposits and make loans. Investment banks raise funds for industry. Deregulation in Britain and the US is leading to the creation of financial conglomerates similar to the universal banks that have always existed in German-speaking countries. A country''s minimum interest rate is usually fixed; banks charge progressively higher rates to less secure borrowers. Many banks also do Eurocurrency business - lending foreign currencies, notably dollars, at lower rates than in the currencies'' home countries.
b. Vocabulary (from the text above)
- to deposit: to place money in a bank; or money placed in a bank
- foreign currencies: the money used in countries other than one''s own
- yield: how much money a loan pays, expressed as a percentage
- liqui***y: available cash, and how easily other assets can be turned into cash
- maturity: the date when a loan becomes repayable
- to underwrite: to guarantee to buy all the new shares that a company issues, if they can not be sold in the public
- takeover: when a company buys or acquires another one
- merger: when a company combines with another one
- stokebroking: buying and selling stocks or shares for clients
- portfolio management: taking care of all a client''s investments
- deregulation: the ending or relaxing of legal restrictions
- conglomerate: a group of companies, operating in different fields, that have joined together
- blue chip: a company considered to be without risk
- solvency: ability to pay liabilities when they become due
- collateral: anything that acts as a security or guanrantee for a loan
Next: Stocks-Shares-Bonds-Futures-Derivatives

In fact, I opened this topic to provide some basic concepts of Business in English. You see? I don''t want to go deeper in each unit, ''cos Business is a large world, and everybody has his/her strong major. Mac Ecos, well, you study it in English, may I know which University dear? (As I know, there are 3 Universities in HCM teaching Business in English).
I don''t know how to discuss as your request... Very sorry.

FJX: It''s simple, as long as you want to participate. Whatever you know about Inflation. Let''s say Definition, How to measure Inflation, How to reduce Inflation rate... May I define Inflation as the change in the prices of goods and services? Do you agree or disagree? why?
I''m undertaking a bachelor of commerce program at RMIT Vietnam

I do not have a good foundation on advanced macroeconomics. These days, I have focused on time series analysis, intead. However, I just give some ideas that come across my mind as I read the above definition. It can easily be verified that if you check different books on macroeconomics, you would find out various definitions of inflation. One thing to note is there might be discrepancies between macroeconomic textbook''s notion of inflation and that used in daily life.
As I understand (I dont check textbook, that''s what I understand of the concept presently), inflation is, in macroeconomic sense, the continuous and rapid increase in aggregate price. There are something have to be made clear here.
First, inflation, as well as other macroeconomic concepts deal with aggregate variables. Thus, inflation is the increase in general or aggregate price, not prices of any particular goods or services.
Second, inflation is the increase in price, not just a change in price. The phenominon when aggregate price is going downward is denoted as deflation. Deflation is also refered to when aggregate price increase at a very low level.
Lastly, in macroeconomic sense, increase in aggregate price is regarded as inflation only if this occurs continously and rapidly. Though inflation rate is reported every year, it may not be inflation that macroeconomists refer to

You must be advanced in Macroeconomic! All that you said is upon my knowledge. I used to think of Inflation as the change in the prices of goods and services sold in a particular year. I even thought that Inflation rate could be a negative figure! I saw somewhere the word "DEFLATION" though.
I did not check on any other text books but what you said makes sense. What I was talking about was macroeconomic at a very basic level. And again, you are right that the Inflation rate reported every year is somehow not measured that simply. I''d love to know how it is measured practically.
Anyway, here is the definition of Inflation according to Sloman & Norris, Macroeconomic - Chapter 15
"Inflation is a rising level of general prices, an increase in the overall level of prices"
Next issue: How to measure Inflation? Far as I know, GDP Price Deflator is the first choice to calculate inflation rate.
The formula is as following: GDP deflator this year minus GDP deflator last year devide GDP deflator last year times 100 (percentage).
What is GDP deflator then? why is it the first choice to calculate Inflation rate? I don''t know why, this is all the taught me!