Economy and Business Terms - Charlie, your teacher of English
Headcount: If you do a head count, you count the number of people present. You can also use
head count to talk about the number of people that are present at an event, or that an organization
employs, so it is the actual number of individuals carried on a firm's payroll.
Household Debt: Household debt can be defined in several ways, based on what types of debt are
included. Common debt types include home mortgages, home equity loans, auto loans, student
loans, and credit cards. Household debt can also be measured across an economy, to measure
how indebted households are relative to various measures of income (e.g., pre-tax and disposable
income) or relative to the size of the economy (GDP). The burden of debt can also be measured in
terms of the amount of interest it generates relative to the income of the borrower. For example, the
U.S. Federal Reserve measures the "household debt service ratio" (DSR), an estimate of the ratio
of debt payments to disposable personal income.
Human Resources: Human resources (HR) is the company department charged with finding,
screening, recruiting and training job applicants, as well as administering employee-benefit
programs. As companies reorganize to gain competitive edge, human resources plays a key role in
helping companies deal with a fast-changing environment and the greater demand for quality
employees.
Hyperinflation: It's a very high rate of inflation, especially sustained over a long period of time.
While there is no set numeric definition, it is associated with inflation percentages in the millions and
billions. Hyperinflation is almost always caused by poor monetary policy on the part of the
government. For example, a government that rapidly increases the money supply without a
corresponding growth in GDP often undergoes hyperinflation. This situation often leads to (though it
may also be caused by) wider economic instability, and may lead to a lack of confidence in the
government. As a result, hyperinflation that persists for a long time may lead to the government
issuing a new currency entirely.
Implementation: Implementation is the noun form of the verb implement, or "to carry out or
accomplish," and you’ll often see it used in reference to a government plan or act. This word is used
to describe the process of turning formal plans — often very detailed conceptual plans that will
affect many — into reality. For example, the implementation of new parking fees means everyone
has to put more money in the parking meters.
Implied Contract Terms: Implied contract terms are items that a court will assume are intended to
be included in a contract, even though they are not expressly stated. Businesspeople generally do
not want to rely upon a court's interpretation of implied terms, so a good contract will often be very
lengthy so that as many material items as possible are written into the contract. However, when it is
not possible to cover every possible detail, a lawyer may appeal that such terms were implied in
order to give force to the intent of the contract.
Incentives: An incentive is something that motivates an individual to perform an action. The study
of incentive structures is central to the study of all economic activities (both in terms of individual
decision-making and in terms of co-operation and competition within a larger institutional structure).
Economic analysis, then, of the differences between societies (and between different organizations
within a society) largely amounts to characterizing the differences in incentive structures faced by
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