Hallycon Academy

Course 3 · Beginner

The global economy in plain words

Growth, inflation, interest rates, jobs, trade and debt: the big numbers on the evening news, what they mean, and how they reach your wallet.

  • 8 lessons
  • 56 min
  • Free
  • A certificate when you finish

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Who it is for

For anyone who hears about inflation, interest rates and recessions in the news and wants to know what they mean for daily life. No prior knowledge needed.

The lessons

Each lesson has a short video, a quiz and links to learn more. The full lessons open after a free sign-in.

  1. Lesson 1: GDP: what an economy produces

    7 min

    GDP adds up the value of everything a country produces in a year. What it tells you, what it misses, and what "1% growth" means in daily life.

    Key points

    • GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.
    • Growth is the change in GDP after inflation ("real" growth).
    • GDP per person, and what GDP leaves out, matter as much as the total.

  2. Lesson 2: Inflation: why prices rise

    7 min

    How inflation is measured with a shopping basket, what pushes it up, and what happened in 2022.

    Key points

    • Inflation is the price change of a fixed basket of goods and services (HICP in the EU, CPI in Switzerland).
    • Prices rise when demand outruns supply, when costs like energy jump, or when too much money chases too few goods.
    • Euro-area inflation peaked at 10.6% in October 2022; Swiss inflation at 3.5% in August 2022 (Eurostat; FSO).

  3. Lesson 3: Interest rates: the brake and the accelerator

    7 min

    Central banks raise rates to cool prices and cut them to support growth. How one decision ripples to mortgages, jobs, shares, bonds and the currency.

    Key points

    • Higher rates make borrowing dearer and saving more attractive, which slows spending and prices.
    • The full effect takes a year or more to work through.
    • Rate changes move house prices, bond prices, share prices and exchange rates, which is why markets watch every decision.

  4. Lesson 4: Jobs, wages and your pay rise

    7 min

    Unemployment, wage growth, and why a pay rise only counts if it beats inflation.

    Key points

    • The unemployment rate counts people who look for work and can't find it.
    • Real wage = pay rise minus inflation; in early 2023 real wages were falling in 30 of 34 OECD countries (OECD Employment Outlook 2023).
    • Low unemployment tends to push wages and prices up; high unemployment holds them down.

  5. Lesson 5: Booms, recessions and the economic cycle

    7 min

    Economies grow, overheat, shrink and recover. What a recession is, when the euro area had them, and what happened to jobs and markets.

    Key points

    • A recession is a broad fall in activity; two quarters of shrinking GDP in a row is a rule of thumb.
    • The euro area had recessions in 2008–09, 2011–13 and 2020 (Euro Area Business Cycle Dating Committee, historical).
    • In past cycles share prices often fell before a recession was announced and turned up before it ended: history, not a rule.

  6. Lesson 6: Trade, currencies and the strong franc

    7 min

    Europe lives from trade. Why exports matter so much to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, and how exchange rates and tariffs change the picture.

    Key points

    • Exports and imports tie every European economy to the rest of the world.
    • A strong currency makes imports cheaper and exports harder to sell; Swiss firms live with this every day.
    • Tariffs are taxes on imports, and they are often passed on to buyers through higher prices.

  7. Lesson 7: Governments: taxes, spending and debt

    7 min

    States tax, spend and borrow. What a deficit and public debt are, why EU rules set limits, and why it touches your savings.

    Key points

    • A deficit is one year's overspending; debt is the pile of all past deficits.
    • EU rules use reference values of 3% of GDP for deficits and 60% for debt; in 2025 Belgium and France were above both (Eurostat, October 2026).
    • Government bonds hold much of Europe's pension and savings money, so state finances touch your savings.

  8. Lesson 8: How economies are tied together

    7 min

    Trade, money and confidence connect every economy. How the 2008 crisis, the 2020 pandemic and the 2022 energy shock crossed borders.

    Key points

    • The US dollar is on one side of about 89% of all currency trades, so US interest rates reach everyone (BIS, April 2025).
    • Shocks travel through trade, banks and markets: 2008 started in US housing and reached European banks within months.
    • In 2022 an energy shock pushed up prices across Europe at the same time.

What’s inside

  • Short videos: About two minutes for each lesson
  • Quizzes: Three questions after each lesson
  • Calculators: Inflation, compound interest, an emergency fund and fees
  • Certificate: For every course you complete

The full lessons, videos and quizzes open after a free sign-in: your name, email, mobile number and a PIN. No card, no obligation.

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General financial education. Hallycon Academy does not manage money, sell investment products or give personal advice. Examples in the lessons promise no return.

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