A pension, for which regular sums are deducted from a person’s salary while they are working, which is paid by an employer when the person retires from their job.

Also called Surtax. An additional tax on something already taxed, e.g. an income above a certain level.

Supply is the amount of a product or service which is available, and demand is the amount which people wish to buy. When demand is higher than supply prices usually rise, when demand is less than supply prices usually fall.

A chain through which a product passes from raw materials to manufacturing, distribution, retailing, etc., until it reaches the end consumer.

Mail which is transported over land or sea, not by air.

Term used to describe a person’s investment in a project, etc., by the contribution of their time and effort, rather than their money.

A place, often a clothing factory, where people work long hours in poor conditions for low wages.

An agreement or contract which offers very favourable deals to one or both parties, but is often not in the best interest of others, such as shareholders.

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Founded in Brussels in 1973, a system for transmitting payments, share transactions and other financial messages safely between financial institutions all over the world.

A servile person or follower, not necessarily of low rank, who tries to please a (more) powerful or influential person by using flattery, and often by informing on others, from which the word is derived in its original Greek meaning (sykophantes is ancient Greek for informer).-