Bu siness skills: b et ter me etings 1 — 21 business englisch bu sin es s e n g L is

James:__And_you’re_successful_Saoirse'>James:
 
And you’re successful?
Saoirse
:
I am, but it was a really difficult experience 
in the beginning. Finding time for work and 
family means that I have to do lots of things 
at the same time, but it has got easier over 
the years.
James:
 
Can you relax at all?
back-burner sb./ 
sth. 
US
,
 
jmdn./etw. aufs 
Abstellgleis schieben
balancing act
,
 
Balanceakt, Spagat
baptism of fire 
[(bÄpt)IzEm]
,
 
Feuertaufe
 
do well for oneself
,
 
erfolgreich sein
put one’s feet up
 ifml.
,
 
alle viere von sich 
strecken
set up shop
,
 
ein Geschäft 
eröffnen; 
hier:
sich 
selbstständig machen
Grammar point
For things that were true in the past but 
not any more, you can use
 “used to” + in-
finitive
:
⋅
We 
used to have
a toxic office envi-
ronment.
Don’t confuse “used to” + infinitive with 
“be used to” + “-ing” verb form
. If you “are 
used to doing something”, you do some-
thing regularly or you live with it, so it is 
normal for you:
⋅
I’m 
used to working
in a competitive 
environment. 
Finally, if you 
“get used to sth. / doing 
sth.”
, you become familiar with it because 
you have learned to live with it or you do 
it regularly: 
⋅
I never 
got used to it
.
Common collocations
Here, we look at some key word partnerships with the term 
“environment” in the context of creating a healthy work-life 
balance.
adjective + 
“environment” 
 
competitive
friendly
hostile
noisy 
pleasant 
professional 
stimulating
supportive 
toxic
working
Better times 
Zoe:
We used to have such a 
toxic office environment
.
I never got used to it. 
Alex:
 
What do you mean, Zoe? 
Zoe:
Don’t you think the new boss has created a much more 
supportive workplace environment
?
Alex:
I hadn’t noticed. I’m used to working in a 
competitive 
environment
. 
competitive environment 
[kEm)petEtIv
In(vaI&rEnmEnt]
,
wettbewerbsorien- 
tiertes Umfeld
friendly environment
,
freundliche Umgebung/
Atmosphäre 
hostile environment 
[(hQstaI&l]
,
feindseliges Umfeld 
noisy environment
,
laute/lärmintensive 
Umgebung
pleasant environment
,
angenehme Umgebung/
Atmosphäre
professional environment
,
professionelle(s)/
berufliche(s) Umgebung/
Umfeld 
stimulating environment
,
anregende(s) Umfeld/
Umgebung 
supportive environment 
[sE(pO:tIv]
,
unterstützende(s)/
förderliche(s) Umfeld/
Umgebung
toxic environment
,
vergiftetes Umfeld 
working environment
,
Arbeitsumgebung, 
-umfeld, -milieu
I can finally put 
my feet up!
AUDIO
+
PLUS
You can try our 
exercises on this 
topic on 
Business 
Spotlight Audio 
as well as in our 
exercise booklet, 
Business Spotlight 
Plus
. To order, go 
to www.aboshop.
spotlight-verlag.de
office environment 
,
Büroumgebung,
Arbeitsumfeld
workplace environment 
,
Arbeitsumfeld,
Arbeitsplatzumgebung
noun + 
“environment” 
office 
workplace

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44 
Business Spotlight
1/2021
LANGUAGE
Fo
tos: 3Dmask/iS
to
ck
.com; Mark
us Wissmann/Shutt
er
st
ock
.com; G
ert Kr
autbauer
allow for sth. 
,
etw. berücksichtigen
debt burden
[(det )b§:d&n]
,
Schuldenlast
fiscal retrenchment
,
Haushaltskonsolidierung
foot the bill 
,
die Rechnung begleichen
government bond
,
Staatsanleihe
incur sth. 
[In(k§:]
,
etw. auf sich laden
loophole 
,
Schlupfloch
premature 
[(premEtSE]
,
verfrüht
purchaser
[(p§:tSEsE]
,
Käufer(in)
rack sth. up 
,
etw. erzielen;
hier: 
anhäufen
reschedule sth. 
[)ri:(Sedju:l]
,
etw. neu 
planen;
 hier: 
umschulden
sustainability
[sE)steInE(bIlEti]
,
Tragfähigkeit
tax revenues
[(revEnju:z]
,
Steuereinnahmen
ultimately
[(VltImEtli]
,
letzten Endes
TALKING FINANCE
“Now is not the time
to discuss tax rises”
Die in der Coronapandemie aufgelegten Hilfsprogramme
haben die Staatsverschuldung weltweit ansteigen lassen.
Doch ist dies momentan kein Grund für Steuererhöhungen.
ADVANCED
AUDIO
S
ince the start of the Covid-19 
crisis, governments around the 
world have spent huge sums of 
money on new programmes, 
incurred enormous deficits and racked 
up debt levels not normally seen in peace-
time. The aims of these programmes have 
been to support the incomes of firms and 
individuals, maintain the level of demand 
and prevent a long and deep recession.
Such responses by government are en-
tirely correct in a time of crisis, but they 
have raised important questions: where 
does all the money that governments are 
spending come from? And who will ulti-
mately pay the cost of the pandemic? 
Governments finance their deficits by 
borrowing in financial markets (or from 
their central banks). In the short term, this 
isn’t a problem for most (rich) countries.
The debt burden — and the future sus-
tainability of debt levels — depends not 
just on the total 
amount
of debt but also on 
the 
cost of servicing
the debt.
This cost is easily manageable for many 
countries. Interest rates are currently so 
low that they can borrow at negative 
real
rates (after allowing for inflation). In 
some cases, governments can even bor-
row at negative 
nominal
interest rates. This 
means they will pay back less money than 
they have borrowed — clearly a good deal. 
In other words, the purchasers of govern-
ment bonds — and there is no shortage of 
them in the case of rich countries — are 
already footing part of the pandemic bill.
IAN MCMASTER
is editor-in-chief 
of Business
Spotlight. 
Contact:
finance@business- 
spotlight.de 
Other people have also borne part of the burden of the cur-
rent crisis, of course. They have lost their jobs, been put on short-
time working schemes, lost clients or seen their businesses 
closed, either temporarily or permanently.
Governments hope that, as their economies recover, this will 
automatically generate tax revenues — and reduce payments of 
unemployment benefits — and therefore reduce their deficits.
But discussions have already started about whether there will 
need to be tax increases (or cuts in government spending). 
Such discussions are premature: now is not the time to 
discuss tax rises. The focus should instead remain on getting 
through the current crisis. As the 
Financial Times
wrote recently, 
“for governments in rich countries, there is no need to rush to-
wards fiscal retrenchment”. 
Further into the future, there may indeed need to be tax in-
creases to reduce government deficits. Also, much of the debt 
of poorer countries will probably have to be written off and/or 
debt payments will have to be rescheduled.
The interesting question will be: who bears the burden of any 
future tax increases? Will it be those with higher incomes — for 
example, through the closing of tax loopholes — or, as so often, 
those with middle and/or low incomes, the people who also suf-
fer more when there are cuts in government spending?
But that, as I said, is a debate for the future, not now.