Day 158 of 160

Day 158: A Question After the Panel

During a coffee break at the Economic Forum in Karpacz, two economics students who are volunteering there (A and B) catch their professor (C) after her panel on inflation.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Polish word to see what it means.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Polish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning

  1. A

    Pani profesor, po pani panelu mamy z kole偶ank膮 sp贸r. Twierdz臋, 偶e na inflacji zyskuj膮 d艂u偶nicy, bo realna warto艣膰 d艂ugu maleje.

    Professor, your panel has left my classmate and me arguing. I say debtors gain from inflation, because the real value of their debt shrinks.

  2. B

    A moim rodzicom w dwa tysi膮ce dwudziestym drugim rata kredytu wzros艂a prawie dwukrotnie. Gdzie tu zysk?

    Whereas my parents' mortgage payment nearly doubled in 2022. Where's the gain in that?

  3. C

    Oboje maj膮 pa艅stwo troch臋 racji. Podr臋cznik zak艂ada sta艂e oprocentowanie, natomiast w Polsce wi臋kszo艣膰 kredyt贸w hipotecznych mia艂a wtedy zmienn膮 stop臋.

    You're both partly right. The textbook assumes a fixed interest rate, whereas in Poland most mortgages at the time had a variable rate.

  4. A

    Czyli przez rosn膮c膮 inflacj臋 NBP podni贸s艂 stopy, a razem z nimi posz艂y w g贸r臋 raty?

    So because of rising inflation the National Bank raised interest rates, and the repayments went up along with them?

  5. C

    W艂a艣nie. Kredytobiorcy sp艂acaj膮cy kredyty ze zmienn膮 stop膮 p艂acili za inflacj臋 podw贸jnie: w sklepie i w banku.

    Exactly. Borrowers paying off loans at a variable rate paid for inflation twice: in the shops and at the bank.

  6. B

    To czy ktokolwiek na tym zyskuje? Bo na razie wychodzi na to, 偶e trac膮 wszyscy.

    So does anyone gain from it at all? Because so far it looks as if everyone loses.

  7. C

    Zyskuje ten, kto ma d艂ug o sta艂ym oprocentowaniu, najlepiej zerowym: inflacja po cichu zjada jego realn膮 warto艣膰.

    Anyone with a fixed-rate debt does, ideally at zero interest: inflation quietly eats away at its real value.

  8. A

    Zerowym? No to jestem modelowym przyk艂adem: od dw贸ch lat jestem winien kole偶ance dwie艣cie z艂otych.

    Zero interest? Then I'm a textbook example: I've owed my classmate two hundred z艂oty for two years.

  9. C

    M膮dry Polak po szkodzie: nast臋pnym razem po偶yczy pani z klauzul膮 waloryzacyjn膮. A pan niech odda ten d艂ug jeszcze dzi艣, bo wiarygodno艣膰 traci na warto艣ci szybciej ni偶 z艂ot贸wka.

    Once bitten, twice shy: next time you'll lend with an indexation clause. As for you, pay that debt back today, because credibility loses its value faster than the z艂oty.

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