The Global Economy — C1 Essential Words
Ten essential C1 words (Economics) with the complete apparatus: pronunciation, simple definitions, natural American examples, collocations, family, the common mistake and spoken usage — plus a 15-question practice quiz. Mark your status on every word.
expenditure /ɪkˈspendɪtʃər/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: The total amount of money a government, company, or person spends; the act of spending.
Example: Public expenditure on health rose.
Another example: The report tracks household expenditure.
Collocations: public expenditure · expenditure on · total expenditure
Synonyms: spending, outlay, costs
Antonyms: income, revenue
Word family: expenditures (n pl) · expend (v — formal)
⚠ Common mistake: Expenditure is spending in a suit — budgets and reports use it; kitchens say 'spending'. Households have it in surveys; governments in scandals.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its graph line is the one finance ministers defend nightly.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
globalization /ˌɡləʊbəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: The process by which businesses, cultures, and economies of countries become connected and dependent on each other.
Example: Globalization made supply chains worldwide.
Another example: Critics and fans debate globalization's effects.
Collocations: economic globalization · globalization of · anti-globalization
Synonyms: integration, interconnection, world trade growth
Antonyms: isolation, protectionism
Word family: globalize (v) · globalized (adj) · global (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Your phone is its autobiography: designed in California, parts from ten countries, assembled in Asia. Debates weigh its jobs gained abroad against jobs moved.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its protests filled Seattle in 1999 and headlines ever since.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
capitalism /ˈkæpɪtəlɪzəm/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: An economic system in which businesses and property are mostly privately owned and operated for profit in competitive markets.
Example: Capitalism rewards risk and innovation.
Another example: The course compares capitalism and other systems.
Collocations: free-market capitalism · capitalism and · under capitalism
Synonyms: free enterprise, market system, private enterprise
Antonyms: communism, socialism (mixed)
Word family: capitalist (n/adj) · capital (n)
⚠ Common mistake: Its classroom dance partner is socialism; real economies mix both (private shops, public roads). The word comes from CAPITAL — money used to make more money.
🗣 In spoken American English: Every election argues its dosage.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
producer /prəˈdjuːsər/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: A company or country that makes or grows goods for sale; also a person who organizes and finances films, music, or shows.
Example: Brazil is a major coffee producer.
Another example: The film's producer raised the budget.
Collocations: a producer of · oil producer · film producer
Synonyms: maker, manufacturer, grower
Antonyms: consumer
Word family: producers (n pl) · produce (v/n) · production (n)
⚠ Common mistake: Economics pairs producer with CONSUMER — makers and users. Hollywood producers make films exist before directors make them art.
🗣 In spoken American English: OPEC meetings move its oil sense into world prices.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
commerce /ˈkɒmɜːrs/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: The activity of buying and selling goods and services, especially between countries or on a large scale; trade.
Example: Commerce between the two countries grew.
Another example: E-commerce changed shopping forever.
Collocations: international commerce · commerce and trade · e-commerce
Synonyms: trade, business, exchange
Word family: commercial (adj/n) · commercially (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Commerce is trade's formal name — ministries and chambers carry it. E-commerce is its internet child; a 'commercial' (TV ad) is its loud grandchild.
🗣 In spoken American English: The US Department of Commerce counts the nation's business health.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
export /ˈekspɔːrt/ noun / verb C1 Economics
Meaning: Goods or services sold to another country; to sell goods abroad.
Example: The country's main export is software.
Another example: They export cars to forty countries.
Collocations: export to · main export · exports rose
Synonyms: foreign sales, shipments abroad
Antonyms: import
Word family: exports (n pl) · exporter (n) · export (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Stress check: EX-port (noun) vs ex-PORT (verb) — the record/present pattern again. Nations brag about exports and argue about imports.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its numbers headline every trade report on the news.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
import /ˈɪmpɔːrt/ noun / verb C1 Economics
Meaning: Goods or services bought from another country; to buy goods from abroad.
Example: Imports of oil fell this year.
Another example: The store imports cheese from France.
Collocations: import from · imports of · import taxes
Synonyms: foreign purchases, goods from abroad
Antonyms: export
Word family: imports (n pl) · importer (n) · imported (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Same stress dance as its twin: IM-port (noun) vs im-PORT (verb). Together they draw every country's trade balance.
🗣 In spoken American English: Customs halls are its physical home.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
multinational /ˌmʌltiˈnæʃənəl/ adjective / noun C1 Economics
Meaning: Operating in many countries; a large company with offices and factories in many countries.
Example: She works for a multinational bank.
Another example: Multinationals employ millions worldwide.
Collocations: a multinational company · multinational firms · multinational team
Synonyms: global, international, worldwide
Antonyms: local, domestic
Word family: multinationals (n pl) · multinational (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Multi (many) + national: Nike, Toyota, and Unilever are the textbook examples. Their tax addresses are the world's favorite accounting puzzle.
🗣 In spoken American English: Their logos are the same in every airport on Earth.
Register: Formal — economics essential.
portfolio /pɔːrtˈfəʊliəʊ/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: A collection of investments (shares, bonds, property) owned by a person or company; also a collection of an artist's or student's work, and originally a case for carrying papers.
Example: His portfolio mixes stocks and bonds.
Another example: Designers show portfolios at interviews.
Collocations: investment portfolio · a portfolio of · portfolio manager
Synonyms: holdings, collection, assets mix
Word family: portfolios (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: Finance, art, and job interviews share it: a portfolio is your PROOF, gathered in one case — money or work.
🗣 In spoken American English: Diversification is its one commandment: never all eggs, one basket.
Register: Formal — finance essential.
obligation /ˌɒblɪˈɡeɪʃən/ noun C1 Economics
Meaning: Something you must do because of a law, promise, or contract; a duty. In finance, a debt or commitment to pay.
Example: The contract lists each side's obligations.
Another example: Companies have obligations to their lenders.
Collocations: obligations under · meet obligations · legal obligation
Synonyms: duty, commitment, liability
Antonyms: option, freedom
Word family: obligations (n pl) · oblige (v) · obligatory (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Obligation is duty with paperwork — contracts and loans run on it. 'Much obliged' is its old-fashioned thank-you fossil.
🗣 In spoken American English: Missing one in finance is called default — the word markets fear most.
Register: Formal — law and finance essential.
Practice — The Global Economy
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