Name: BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Money 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocab!
Uploaded: 2026-01-27T16:59:16.000Z
Duration: 30 min 32 s
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Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

In this program, we're talking about money.

And, Beth, as the old saying goes, money makes the world go round.

You mean it's very important and lots of things couldn't happen without it.

have you noticed how our money doesn't seem to buy so much these days?

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.

I know this has a lot to do with inflation, the increase in prices of things over time.

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%?

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.

Two things in particular are increasing in price.

Energy, like gas and electricity and food.

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.

The BBC World Service programme, the Real Story, discussed this in much more detail.

One expert economist, writer and broadcaster Linda Yu explained how price rises could be around for a while.

Even if you take out some of these volatile items like food and energy, the sustained price increases that 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.

Linda Yu used some interesting language there.

She talked about food and energy being volatile items.

Something that's volatile is unpredictable and can change suddenly.

And that's what we've experienced with food and energy prices.

she said these price increases have been sustained, so continuing at the same level for a long period of time.

But Linda Yu says that even if energy and Food prices eventually come down.

Companies will pass on the extra costs they've already faced by charging more for their goods and services.

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.

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.

Well, that's the million dollar question, and economists are trying to work it out.

Speaking on the Real Story programme, economist Vicky Price gave an overview of how to control inflation.

One of the things that actually is most effective is by slowing down demand.

And if you increase interest rates, what you do is you discourage people from borrowing, whether they're individuals or whether they are businesses.

And of course economists start slowing down.

So she says what is most effective, meaning what works well and gets the best results, is, 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.

And if we borrow less money, we buy fewer things, which can reduce inflation.

And if you were in Venezuela in 2018, you would really want inflation to go down, wouldn't you?

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

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.

In this program we have been talking about inflation.

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

Volatile describes something that is unpredictable and can change suddenly.

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.

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

Well, we hope you found our brief lesson about the economy useful.

Six Minute English from BBC Learning English Hello, I'm Sam and welcome to Six Minute English.

This is the programme where in just six minutes we discuss an interesting topic and teach some related English.

Fraud is the criminal activity of getting money by deceiving people or tricking people by doing something dishonest.

There are many ways to do this and much of it is happening online these days.

But first, a very honest quiz question for you to answer.

Rob, according to UK Finance, an organization that represents the British banking industry, how much money did criminals steal through fraud and scams last year?

Was it A, 1.2 million pounds, B, 120 million or C 1.2 billion pounds?

Well, I imagine it's quite a lot, so I'll say £120 million.

OK, we'll find out if you're right later in the program.

Now, I just mentioned the word scam, which is an illegal way of making money by tricking someone.

We may think that we'll never be scammed, but

already millions of people have fallen for fake emails, phone calls or letters that look genuine and ask us to give or update our financial details.

To fall for means to believe something that is a trick or a lie to be true.

This year, for example, thousands of people in the UK fell for a fraudulent or fake email requesting that people update their direct debit details for paying their TV licence.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Money 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocab!

sophisticated

reveal

expression

period