Tag: economy

Spain to Get EU Coronavirus Recovery Fund

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The European Union has reached a historic deal to provide Coronavirus recovery fund to its member countries. Spain is one of the countries to receive the biggest grants.

Read more about this news on the historic EU Coronavirus Recovery Fund.

https://english.elpais.com/politics/2020-07-21/spain-to-get-140-billion-from-historic-eu-coronavirus-recovery-fund.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why is this deal historic? How do you feel about it?
  2. What are your thoughts on Spain getting the lion’s share of the money?
  3. What do you think are some of the conditions that might come with the release of funds?
  4. How should the Spanish government allocate the said funds?
  5. How do you think are you going to be affected economically by the pandemic?

Air Bridges Allows More People to Travel

B1 – Intermediate

With the pandemic greatly affecting most countries’ economy, governments are finding ways to restart the economic activities again. 

One way is by having air bridges. Another word for it is “travel bubble”. Find out more about air bridges or travel bubbles by reading the article below.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2006/200624-air-bridges-1.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to this article, what is an air bridge? What is the old meaning of it?
  2. What is your opinion about air bridges?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having travel bubbles?
  4. Do you agree that opening the economy to people from other countries will be advantageous?
  5. How has the pandemic affect the economy of your country? How is your country recovering from the crisis?

Population Slowdown and Spain’s Economy

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A great number of Spanish leaving Spain, not a very vigorous growth in the number of immigrants and the imbalance between births and deaths in the country are some of the issues Spain is confronted with.

Read the article to find out more about this issue and how it can potentially be resolved.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/12/23/inenglish/1577115169_134179.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Talk about the population slowdown in Spain and how it affects the economy.
  2. Explain how the population helps the economy.
  3. What are the solutions to this problem?

Japan’s Micro Apartment Boom

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Japan is famous for its minimalist and downsized architecture even though the country has not always been so densely populated. With not enough space in the cities and low budgets for renting or owning a house, many Japanese have chosen to live in these tiny and cramped apartments. Even so, Japanese have created some clever design elements that allow the micro apartment to be a very functional and cozy home.

Watch the video and see what is so special about these micro apartments in Japan:

Discussion Questions:

  1. What brought about the rise in tiny living spaces?
  2. What do you think about micro apartments?
  3. How would you feel living in this tiny apartment?
  4. What do you think are the good things about micro apartments? What are the disadvantages of living in these small apartments?
  5. What are apartments like in your country?

Consumerism

B2 – Upper intermediate

Have you ever wondered how we’ve been consuming so much or wanting to buy more than our bare necessities? This contributes too much to environmental destruction like pollution, degradation, etc. We are at an alarming rate of consuming resources in which our planet isn’t able to replenish.

Please see the video below:

Discussion Questions:

  1. Describe the video.
  2. What is consumerism and how did the consumerist culture start?
  3. How do commercials influence people’s buying behavior?
  4. How does consumerism affect society? How does it affect you?
  5. What can we do to reduce our consumption?

Cities With the Best Quality of Life

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Living in a wonderful city and enjoying the best quality life there. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Find out which cities have the best quality of life.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/these-cities-have-the-best-quality-of-life/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are some of the measures used to determine the cities with the best quality of life?
  2. In your opinion, what’s the quality of life like in the city you live in?
  3. How can the quality of life be improved in your city?
  4. Describe your experience being in a city with good and bad quality of life.
  5. Which among the top 10 cities with the best quality of life would you want to live in and why?

Spain’s Unfinished Cities

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Valdeluz, an unfinished development housing project near Guadalajara was constructed to house aspiring middle-class homeowners. It has become a paragon of the consequences of the housing bubble burst and the country’s confounded economic decline.

Read more about this ghost town, its implications on Spain’s housing and economic state.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/spain-empty-cities_n_56ba6221e4b0b40245c47dff

Discussion Questions:

  1. Talk about the construction boom in Spain, the current situation and your thoughts on this issue.
  2. Do you know any urbanization development projects that were abandoned midway? What do you think of when you see such sights?
  3. Has the housing crisis waned in your country now?
  4. What do you think went wrong with these housing projects?
  5. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of living in urbanizations?

Venezuelans Adopt Recycling to Make Ends Meet

B2 – Upper Intermediate

This man sits at a marketplace stall in Caracas and repairs broken light bulbs for people who do not have money to buy new ones. Venezuela’s severe economic crisis has led to food and other basic commodities shortages. Hyperinflation has left people’s salaries almost with no value at all anymore in this country.

Watch the video and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your opinion about the topic in the video?

2. What can be the solution to Venezuela’s problem?

3. Is recycling truly beneficial for people and the environment?

4. What are the most common items that you can put into recycling?

5. Do you recycle or not? Is recycling commonly done in your city or country?

Sharing Economy

C1 – Advanced

Sharing economy is basically an economic system in which assets and services are shared between private individuals either for free or for a fee. It has become a global economic phenomenon because of the expansion of platforms to other countries, and because the idea of sharing has caught on around the world. We are familiar with Uber, Airbnb or even other ways of sharing all sorts of things. The sharing economy has shown explosive growth, which, in turn, has led to regulatory and political battles as more and more people want to connect with one another.

Watch the video about sharing economy and what’s next for it.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of sharing economy?
  2. What does “hockey stick growth” mean?
  3. How do you feel about sharing? What do you regularly share with other people?
  4. What benefits do the sharing economy hold for communities/society?
  5. How is this market regulated for security?
  6. In normal business transactions, the government also extracts value by way of taxes, but with the sharing economy often the same taxes don’t apply; what do you think about this?

Tariffs and Trade War

B1 – Intermediate

A tariff is a tax on imported goods and services from foreign countries. US plans to add tariffs on Chinese products. If this happens, China will answer by doing the same on US goods.

Read the article below and find out about trade wars.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1803/180325-trade-war-1.html

Discussion Questions:
1. What are the effects of US’s plans to put trade tariffs on Chinese goods?
2. How will this affect trade in the whole world?
3. Which countries does your country buy goods from and which countries buy goods from your country?